Second Chances
by VRWC
Summary: Ron loses the one he loves and Bonnie's prince turns into a frog, and then they run into each other.
1. Life's Ups and Downs

Second Chances

Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible; however I claim the multitude of minor original characters in here for my own!

Chapter One: Life's ups and downs

**-Go City-**

Ron sat in the hospital room nervously waiting for news on Kim. His and Kim's dads were far more calm, they had had told him that the first time was the worst, well Kim's dad had said that, his own dad had said that for all the anxiety the result was more than worth it. Ron wasn't so sure at the moment though, Kim had been in labor for ten hours so far and only the fact that her mom was helping with the delivery kept him from knocking as many heads as it took to get into the delivery room. Well that and the fact that his dad, Kim's dad, and the twins were all sitting around him and despite the fact that they all looked quite busy he knew they were watching him and were ready to pounce at the first sign of movement.

It was his mother of all people who had proven the calmest of everyone there, she had been running regular infusions of hot chocolate and tea into all the men for the past several hours and yet still appeared as unruffled as the moment she had walked through the hospital doors. Ron for his part was considerably more ruffled, when Kim had told him her water had broken he had panicked, like she knew he would, and Kim had to pour a pitcher of water over him to calm him down. Once the couple had gotten to the hospital Ron had called the assistant managers at his restaurant to let them know he'd be taking the next few days off and he was sure that his messages sounded so nervous that they would all be calling him back to ask what he had been talking about.

Ron let his head slump onto the back of the seat he was in and sighed. He shouldn't have just been sitting there worrying, he should have been trying to decide between the names he and Kim had narrowed their list down to. But he couldn't really do that until he saw the baby; he and Kim had opted to not have the doctor tell them the sex of the baby and had narrowed their choices down to a few boy names and a few girl names. Plus whatever name he decided on for each list didn't necessarily mean that Kim would decide on the same one.

"How are you doing honey?" His mom appeared in front of him with a smile and a steaming cup of what smelled like tea.

"Well you'd have to get in there and ask Kim," Ron took the cup, "but I'm not sure which one of us is more anxious for this to be over with right now."

"You really should relax," his mom sat down next to him, "you know though, it's quite good that there are so many men with you right now. I remember when I was in here with you, it took five male nurses to keep your father out of the delivery room and he only sat down when a doctor threatened him with sedation."

"Really?" Ron snorted into his tea, "dad?"

"Dear don't lie to Ronald," his father said from where he and Kim's dad were wiling away the time with nickel and dime poker, "I sat down before the doctor came in to sedate me and it took six male nurses to keep me out of your mother's delivery room, and one of them was a former nightclub bouncer."

Ron just stared back and forth between his parents in utter disbelief, this was a story he had never heard before. As a matter of fact Ron couldn't remember his parents ever telling him any stories about when his mom had been carrying him. Of course his dad had warned him about mood swings, and cravings and the like, but Kim's dad had told him as much when he'd ordered Ron to look out for his little girl.

"I remember waiting for Kim to be born," Mr. Dr. P laughed from the impromptu poker table, "I had the final draft of a half billion dollar space probe due to the board the very next day. Oh I was a real wreck, had about four of these tables strapped together all covered with blueprints and every five minutes I was getting up and asking a nurse to go into the delivery room and see if anything had changed. Of course when Jim and Tim were born I was so busy keeping Kim from bouncing off the walls with boredom that I was too busy to get nervous myself."

"Okay that makes me feel a little better," Ron sighed, "at least someone handled this worse than I did the first time around. But um someone can't go in there and check on Kim just to make me feel better can they?"

"Oh Ronald," his mom reached up to ruffle his hair, "just sit back, relax, and before you know it Dr. Possible will be coming out of that room with a million watt smile on her face and you'll rush in there only to find that everything went perfect. Now stay there drink your tea and let the doctors do their job."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Ron's voice was nervous, "what if I'm not a good dad? I mean Kim will be fine, she's the girl who can do anything, but I'm just a regular guy."

"Regular guys have been doing this since the dawn of time," Mr. Dr. P. laughed, "you'll do fine Ronald, there's no one else I'd rather have look after Kimmie and there's no one else I'd rather see look after my grandchildren."

After that Ron sat quietly and sipped at his tea as it slowly cooled down. His mom picked up a news magazine and started idly thumbing through it while Jim and Tim joined his and Kim's dad at their makeshift poker game at which his dad seemed to be doing quite well. An hour passed and Ron was staring down into the bottom of his cup, he was about to get up to toss the remnants of his now ice cold tea in the trash when something in him told him to look up. He saw Mrs. Dr. P. walking towards him and even before she put on her 'doctor' face Ron could feel what had happened.

"Ron," Mrs. Dr. P. said in a very soft voice, she looked up into his face and saw that he knew what she was going to say before going on, "everything was going fine until the baby started passing Kim's pelvis. When she was going through Kim's pelvis cracked, which isn't very common but typically isn't anything too worrisome, just a few more weeks off your feet. What happened though was that somehow a chip came off and cut Kim's femoral artery, we noticed it immediately but by the time we had made the incision to sew it up she was already too far gone."

Ron just stood there in stunned disbelief watching as tears started running down Kim's mom's cheeks, the two families who had stood with baited breath when she had first come out were as shock still as Ron was, and even the normal bustle and noise of the hospital seemed to come from miles away.

Ron stood there for almost a whole minute before he found the willpower to speak, "and… and… the baby?"

Mrs. Dr. P. wiped her eyes and took a breath before answering, "I guess every cloud does have a silver lining, you have a beautiful baby daughter Ron, she has Kim's eyes and your hair. And before she… well Kim had some last words, she said for me to tell you that she loves you and that she doesn't want you to mourn her till you're old and gray but for you to be happy."

Ron closed his eyes as he felt tears start to leak out of his own eyes and down his cheeks, his eyes opened when he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder and he turned to see his father standing there with one arm on his shoulder and another around his mom whose cheeks were glistening with tears of her own.

"Ron son," his father said in a voice heavy with grief, "I… I'm not sure what to say right now but is there anything we can do to help?"

Ron looked down at his father as the question circled around in his head. The only thing he could think of that he wanted right now was to go to the top of the tallest mountain he could find and rage at the heavens till the skies themselves came down from the depths of his grief and sorrow. Scratch that, he could think of something he wanted more, to see the only good thing that had come from having the love of his life cruelly ripped away before her time.

Turning to Mrs. Dr. P. he slowly said, "Is there any way I can see the baby?"

Kim's mom turned her head to a waiting nurse who nodded after the two made eye contact, the redhead turned back to Ron and said, "Sure I think that would be for the best, she'll be in the nursery though. There's a lot of blood in the delivery room and I didn't think you'd need to see that, once they get Kim cleaned up though I suppose you could also see the… body if you wanted."

"Thanks," Ron said to the woman who had been a second mother to him over the years, "should I just follow the nurse?"

Kim's mom nodded and Ron slowly took off after the nurse, they walked past the doors to the delivery rooms and Ron couldn't help but let his gaze linger. Finally though he arrived in the nursery, it was cheerfully lit and filled with little beds with even tinier occupants wearing pink and blue hats. The nurse led him to one of the beds with a pink hated baby and on the end of the bed he saw the nametag with 'Stoppable' on it. Ron rested his arms on the edges and looked into the bed and saw his little girl sleeping, as though she somehow knew he was looking at her a tiny set of eyes opened to reveal a very familiar shade of green.

"Hey there little lady," Ron whispered, "daddy's really sad right now but he still loves you. And don't you worry because I'll do everything I can to make sure you grow up nice and happy."

"Excuse me, Mr. Stoppable?" the nurse said as though hesitating to intrude on the moment, "we still have to fill out the birth certificate and a few other papers, we were wondering if you and your wife had decided on a name for your daughter."

Ron looked at the nurse and then down at his daughter, it wasn't his choice but he knew that Kim had wanted to use the name if they had a daughter and as he spoke he felt like Kim was a little nearer to him, "Samantha, Samantha Anne Stoppable."

-One month later-

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Ron said to the little old lady in front of him.

"Oh go on, we'll be fine." She replied

Mrs. Henderson was Ron's townhouse next-door neighbor, a ninety year old widow who had lost all three of her sons in Vietnam she was amazingly enough friends with Nana Possible and had quickly become friends with Kim and Ron when the couple had moved into the townhouse soon after marrying. Having no grandchildren of her own and being friends with Samantha's great grandmother Mrs. Henderson saw it as her mission to spoil the little girl in the absence of her grandparents as well as watching her when Ron had to go to work or other such things like buy more baby supplies.

"Okay then," Ron said, "I'll have my cell phone on and remember to call me if anything happens."

Mrs. Henderson closed the door laughing as Ron turned around and started walking towards the Smarty Mart down the road. Sure he could drive but he wanted to take advantage of an actually mild October night and Mrs. Henderson had hinted that she wanted to spend some time with Samantha, so Ron had decided that he could walk to Smarty Mart, get a bit less than he had originally planned and just pick up the remainder after work the next day.

Ron walked down the street at a rather leisurely pace, he lived in a fairly nice suburb and had really very little to worry about, particularly since he and Kim had continued saving the world even if at a more sedate pace and he was as a result more than qualified to take down any would be assailants. Ron looked up at the stars and tried to imagine he could see Kim up there, as he looked up into the heavens he also thought about whether to take Samantha to church or synagogue when she got old enough. His and Kim's mixed faiths had never been much of a problem, Rabbi Katz had flown out to perform a Christian funeral for Kim a week after she died and no one had seemed to mind.

So absorbed was Ron in his thoughts and staring up at the night sky that he had forgotten to pay any attention to the path in front of him. So it came as a complete surprise when he hit something and landed hard on his backside. Lifting his head he saw a pair of feet and knew he had hit someone rather than something, profusely apologizing Ron started grabbing things off the ground and returning them to the woman he had walked into. At least Ron hoped it was a woman, the purse really was a telling detail, finally with everything picked up Ron looked up to get a look at the face of the woman he had walked into but all words fled him when he saw who he had walked into.

**-Twelve hours earlier-**

Bonnie Rockwaller-Mankey groaned as her alarm went off, six fifteen in the morning was far too early for her to have to get up, all through her school years she had been a night person and having to adapt to the morning start of the working world remained a challenge for the brunette. She sat up and slapped the snooze button, Josh was still asleep but then that wasn't a surprise to Bonnie as it seemed like he'd keep right on sleeping if the world ended. He was lucky though she thought as she straggled her way to the shower, owning his own gallery let Josh be far more flexible in his hours than Bonnie's job as a lawyer.

The steaming hot water of the shower did wonders for Bonnie's temper, by the time she was dry and dressed the timer on the coffee machine had gone off and Bonnie started to feel more or less human. Sitting down at the kitchen table Bonnie sipped at her coffee while she thumbed through the files she had brought home last night, she had a meeting with several bureaucrats from the city department of education at lunch and if she wasn't completely on top of all the numbers those policy wonks would be all over her for it. Finally feeling like she was ready for the day Bonnie cruised back through the bathroom to put in her earrings and a quick breeze through the bedroom to check on Josh.

Sitting in the inevitable traffic jam on her way to work Bonnie took the opportunity to roll down her windows, pull out her PDA and go over her list of things to get done that day. Scrolling down the list Bonnie took a brief second to think how nice it was to be able to roll down her windows in traffic and not get a lungful of smog, the advent of hydrogen fuel cells a few years back and generous tax credits to transition from gasoline engines had cleared up a lot of urban smog. Looking back down at her list Bonnie decided that the only really important thing she had that day was her lunch meeting, other than that it should be a lazy day working on the grant applications for low income daycare.

Bonnie eventually made her way through the highway snarl and pulled into the parking lot of the office complex where her law firm was located. Well it wasn't her law firm, she was just a junior attorney, but she was smart and ambitious and Bonnie figured she'd make at least a junior partner in not too many years. Stopping by the break room Bonnie opted to fill her travel mug with tea rather than coffee since she could still feel the caffeine from her earlier cup. Walking to her office Bonnie put the backpack she kept all her files in down in one of the chairs in front of her desk, sitting down behind the desk she started up her computer and pulled the grant applications off the top of her inbox.

"Hey Bonnie," she looked up to see her co-worker Larry standing in the door.

"Hi Larry," she said, "what brings you to my little slice of paradise this early in the morning?"

"I heard a rumor," he said taking a sip out of his coffee mug, "the DOE is going to be sending Finchley out to your lunch meeting today, he's one of the most anal policy freaks I've ever met, and this is me talking."

"It shouldn't be too much of a problem," Bonnie leaned back in her chair, "I went over the numbers for our clients so much last night that I'm sure when I get home Josh is going to tell me I was muttering them in my sleep."

"Normally I'd say muttering things in your sleep is a bad thing," Larry laughed, "but in this case it might turn out to be a real life saver. Just thought I'd give you a little heads up that this might not be the cakewalk I knew you were hoping for."

"Yeah," Bonnie waved her hand absentmindedly as Larry started back towards his own office, "you know me though I'll still have them begging to give us twice the amount they're supposed to offer by the end of this thing."

Bonnie opened up her email as Larry's laughter echoed down the hall, there were a few new messages but none that needed urgent responses and her time would be better spent trying to finish up some details on the grant applications so she could present at least a finished draft at the meeting. Time went by surprisingly quickly and before Bonnie realized it the alarm she had set on her PDA went off causing her to jump. After slowing her heart down from the million beats a minute it was doing Bonnie glanced at her clock to confirm that it was indeed time for her to pack up and leave. Seeing the time Bonnie quickly finished off the sentence she was writing and packed everything in her backpack. She then walked down to the end of the hall to her bosses' office to let her know she was leaving.

"Rebecca," Bonnie knocked on the door and poked her head in, "I'm leaving for the meeting with the education people."

"Alright," her boss looked up at her, "cell phone if we need to get a hold of you?"

"Yep," Bonnie replied, "but this is a pretty important meeting so only if the world is ending, sky raining puppies minimum."

"Ok," Rebecca chuckled, "go take it to them."

Bonnie walked out of the office with a smile on her face and after putting her backpack on the passenger seat started her car and made the short drive to the café where she was meeting the people from the Education Department. Being October the outdoor seating of the café was of course closed but they had a lovely glass veranda that was fully heated. Pulling her car into a parking space Bonnie got out, grabbed her backpack and walked into the building. She had gotten there ahead of the DOE people and she asked the host to seat her in the glass veranda. She had only just gotten a glass of water for herself and started sipping when two men walked into the café, even though she didn't know either of them the way they carried themselves declared them to be the people she was meeting with. As the host started guiding the men over towards her table Bonnie stood up and stretched out her hand for them to shake, the smile on her face seemed perfectly pleasant but to anyone who knew her it was a very predatory smile indeed.

An hour later Bonnie walked out of the café, the smile on her face at the outset had become an outright smirk over the course of the meeting. In just over half the time the meeting had been scheduled to take Bonnie had managed to completely think circles around her bureaucratic counterparts. It wasn't quite the slaughter she had bragged to Larry about but it wasn't so far off the mark that they wouldn't have some good laughs about it later on. The afternoon rush hour hadn't started yet so Bonnie made good time back to the office; she walked in the door thinking she might even try to get off a bit early since the meeting had gone so well. She and Josh had been quite busy of late and hadn't had chances to see much of each other and it would be a nice surprise for him if Bonnie could get home from work early.

Bonnie took the stairs rather than the elevator up to the third floor suite where her firm had its offices. She stopped for a bit at the front desk to make sure no one had called or stopped in to see her, fortunately no one had and Bonnie started to really think she could pull off her get off work early scheme. A quick run through the break room to fill her travel mug with more tea and Bonnie walked down the hall to her office. She juggled her backpack and mug to have a free hand and leaned against her heavy oak door to put the key into the lock and let herself into her office. Surprisingly her weight caused the door to open and Bonnie stumbled into her office, the sight of what was in there made her backpack and mug drop from her hand right along with her jaw.

Josh and Rebecca were standing behind her desk, the way he was positioned behind her and how they were moving and moaning left absolutely no doubt in Bonnie's mind about what they were doing back there.

"You're back early," Rebecca had a sultry smile on her face.

"Yeah," Bonnie stuttered out, "but what the hell are you two doing?!"

Rebecca sighed and moaned at the same time, "what does it look like we're doing?"

"I can see what you're doing," Bonnie growled, "but that's my husband back there."

"And you have a problem with that?" Josh lazily drawled.

"Yes!" Bonnie screeched, "Didn't you make something called a wedding vow?"

"Yeah," Josh said in the same lazy tone, "but I'm a rich guy and one of the perks of that is a mistress."

Bonnie just stood there with her mouth open as the tea leaked out of her mug into the carpet and her husband and boss continued to screw each other's brains out on her desk like she wasn't even there, if anything they were going faster.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Rebecca said in-between smacking up against Bonnie's desk, "I think your getting back from this meeting so early shows an obvious downturn in your job performance, and even though I've always tried to be casual with my subordinates I think you've crossed the line several times, not to mention that your husband is always hanging around this place showing a clear inability to separate your personal life from your professional. I've talked it over with the senior partners and the bottom line is you're fired, I'll expect you to clean out your desk by the close of business today."

"And I'm filing for divorce," Josh gasped as he lunged forward one last time. He and Rebecca stood tense against Bonnie's desk for several seconds before relaxing.

"Well what are you waiting for;" Rebecca said impatiently, "start cleaning out your desk."

"By the way," Josh said as he pulled up his pants and did his belt, "I had Rebecca help me file the divorce papers and I'm taking the house, the cars, the bank accounts, pretty much everything that's not your clothes. But since I'm in a good mood and I'd like you to be gone in a hurry I'll let you take one of my cars back to my house so you can get your stuff out."

Bonnie was completely still with shock as her soon to be ex-husband and boss walked out of her office, Rebecca reminding her to have her effects removed by the close of business. Only after they closed the door did she stagger forward to her desk and start to cry.

Driving home, well not home anymore, with tears streaking down her face Bonnie gave serious thought to driving the car off a cliff or into a wall at high speeds. Only for a moment though, as much as spiting Josh by wrecking the car appealed to her dying in the process would be giving up, and if there was one thing Bonnie Rockwaller would never do no matter what it was give up.

Once she got back to the house Bonnie hurriedly packed everything into her two suitcases and her purse. The divorce papers were lying on the bed and as much as Bonnie wanted to tear them up and drag that bastard Josh through court she knew it would be useless at best, more likely it would turn out a disaster for her. Bonnie may have been a lawyer but a litigator she was not, and Rebecca was one of the best in the city, if the divorce went to court Bonnie would be lucky to leave with the clothes on her back. So she decided to just take as much as she could and claim it as 'her stuff,' she had stopped at the bank yesterday so she had cash on hand to pay for a hotel for several days.

As she walked out of the place she had called home for the past several years the sun was low in the western sky and the first few stars had just started to dot the sky. Having to stay in a hotel for a few days didn't really bother Bonnie that much, she traveled enough that she was well used to it. Plus she knew she was a smart young woman and finding new employment shouldn't be too difficult for her. What really got Bonnie down was that she was going to have to call her parents and ask for their help. Finding a new job wouldn't take too long but it would take longer than she was confident her cash would hold out, and that would mean moving back in with her parents for at least several weeks, most likely till she got a new job and the first paycheck came in.

Feeling down as she was Bonnie lowered her head to stare at the sidewalk as she trudged along. So involved was she with dreading the phone call she would have to make in the morning that she completely lost track of what was in front of her. So it came as a complete surprise when she hit something and landed hard on her backside. Lifting her head she saw a pair of feet and knew she had hit someone rather than something, profusely apologizing Bonnie started grabbing things off the ground and shoving them into her purse. The mystery man, she though the hands were a mans also started grabbing her things and handing them to her, finally with everything picked up Bonnie looked up to get a look at the face of the man she had walked into but all words fled her when she saw who she had walked into.

"Bonnie?" Ron stammered, "Bonnie Rockwaller?"

"Ron?" Bonnie stammered at the same time, "Ron Stoppable?"

The two stood up and brushed themselves off, Bonnie was the first to consider herself done and so was the next so speak, "What are you doing walking out here this late at night?"

"Smarty Mart, I needed to pick up some baby stuff," Ron said as he noticed Bonnie's suitcases and the tear tracks down her face, "and what's got you out here with suitcases and tears rolling down your cheeks?"

"Nothing," Bonnie sighed as she remembered the newspapers of a month ago lamenting the passing of world renowned hero Kim Possible, "I know it's probably way too late and you've gotten more of these than you know what to do with but for what it's worth I'm sorry about Kim."

"It's actually worth more than you'd think," Ron's voice softened, "I got so many condolences from so many people who never really knew Kim that getting one from someone who really knew us means a lot. Now Bonnie why don't you tell me why you're out here crying and looking like you're about to go on a trip."

"It's nothing," Bonnie said, "at least nothing compared to what you must have to deal with."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that," Ron stepped in, "at least tell me what happened you look like you need to tell someone."

"Alright," Bonnie sighed, "long story short I got divorced and lost my job today, I'm going to stay at a hotel tonight and I'll call my parents tomorrow."

"Well you've got me long beat for the most going wrong," Ron had a wry smile on his face, "at least I got Samantha out of losing Kim, you had nothing good happen to you. And I've got your hotel solved, I've got a perfectly good guest room back at my house, you can stay there until you get another job and find a new place to stay."

"I couldn't," Bonnie raised her hands in protest, "I mean so soon after Kim died I'd just feel horrible imposing on you like that."

"Nonsense," Ron picked up her bags and started walking back towards his house, "Kim would have told you the exact same thing and I'm sure that if I don't do this she'll come back and haunt me until I die."

Bonnie grumbled out a few more protests but Ron ignored them and after a few minutes she followed him in silence. About twenty minutes later they entered a rather upscale subdivision of townhouses and Ron motioned for her to catch up to him.

"We need to make one stop before my house," he said as she slowed beside him, "I left Samantha with a neighbor and we'll need to pick her up."

A few minutes later they walked up to a townhouse, Ron started trying to press the doorbell but with all of Bonnie's luggage he wasn't having much luck.

"Let me," Bonnie walked up and pushed the button to the side of the door.

A few seconds passed and the door opened to show an elderly woman Bonnie guessed to be in her mid to late eighties.

She looked at Bonnie and then over at Ron before speaking, "Well hello there Ron, and who is this charming young lady you've brought home with you?"

Bonnie blushed slightly at the old woman's remarks but Ron seemed to take it in stride, "Her name is Bonnie, she's an old friend and she needs a place to stay for awhile. We ran into each other up the street, literally, and she'll be using the guest room at my house for awhile."

"That's so sweet of you Ron," the old lady said, but before she could go on a wailing that Bonnie was sure was Ron's daughter Samantha echoed from the house.

"I'll get that," Bonnie said as she stepped into the townhouse, a crib was set up in the living room and Bonnie walked over to it. Looking down she saw a little blonde haired green eyed girl barely a month old. Samantha's eyes focused on the brunette and a smile widened her face as she stopped crying. Picking her up carefully Bonnie guessed that she had just wanted some attention. Walking back out Bonnie looked up from Samantha to see the old lady smiling at her and even Ron's look of surprise was a very pleased one.

"She seems to like you," the old lady laughed kindly, then pointing at Ron and Bonnie, "you two take care of each other now, lost souls like yourselves need someone to make the journey of life with."

"Sure," Ron said, "anyways thanks for watching Samantha, I owe you Mrs. Henderson."

"Any time Ron," the old lady, rather Mrs. Henderson turned and waved over her shoulder, "now I'm going to go make myself some dinner, take care you two."

The door closed and Ron and Bonnie were left standing on the front step, they walked down and to the next townhouse over, Ron put down Bonnie's suitcases to reach into his pocket and pull out a key, after unlocking the door he turned to her and said, "ready to go home Bonnie?"

Bonnie looked down at Samantha who had fallen asleep again in her arms and then up at Ron and said, "Sure."

AN: Yay, new story! I decided to work for my 'T' rating this time, I think parts of this chapter might push it a little but I'm standing by my decision. And I must admit I'm actually terribly proud of this chapter, I typically can remain pretty detached from writing my characters suffering but even I felt a bit choked up when I had to write Kim dying and Bonnie walking into that office. And who else is excited for a new season of Kim Possible? I know I am. I just don't know how I'll write with all that excitement, I mean I've got this story, then SuperRonII, and then my ideas for a sequel to Shocked have finally gotten some traction in my head so I'll probably tackle that before too long. Basically I'm gonna be a busy little writer for a long time to come, I just hope you all are willing to keep putting up with me, ciao till next chapter.


	2. The First Noël

Second Chances

Disclaimer: You know the drill, I don't own Kim Possible

Chapter Two: The First Noël

**-Mid December-**

Ron sighed as he made yet another circuit around the mall. He had gotten gifts for his parents, for the Dr's. P. Jim, Tim, Nana Possible, all his relatives, Mrs. Henderson, and even Samantha. The only person on his list that Ron couldn't think of a present for was Bonnie. It wasn't that he didn't want to get her anything, quite the opposite in fact, Ron simply couldn't think of what to get her. It was a real head scratcher too, most everything she really needed they had bought in the two months since she had moved in. And buying things that Bonnie didn't necessarily need meant that Ron had to think carefully about what message it would send. Bonnie moving in had been a real godsend to Ron, the brunette had taken to mothering Samantha like a duck to water and having company in the house had proven to be rather nice. So Ron needed a gift that would show his gratitude but at the same time he worried about the gift sending too strong a message and freaking Bonnie out. Afterall Kim was not long dead and Bonnie had been rather nastily divorced not too long ago and he didn't want to come across as trying to rebound.

On the other extreme Ron didn't want to give her a gift that would imply some sort of parting gift, Bonnie might read into that her welcome wearing thin which was the exact opposite of the truth. Bonnie had long since found a new job, with Nakasumi toys in fact; Ron would never tell her that he might have called Mr. Nakasumi himself and asked if he could look at Bonnie's résumé. But between her new job, Samantha, and just trying to live life Bonnie hadn't found time to look for a new place yet, which was fine with Ron. It turned out that since leaving high school Bonnie had lost her obsession with the food chain and she was actually pretty fun to have around.

Letting out another sigh Ron thought that shopping for Bonnie was as hard as shopping for Kim had ever been, and he wasn't even trying to make Bonnie like him. Well he wanted her to like him, but not like him like him, and that was the heart of his problem. To find something for someone who had become a great friend and doubled as his housemate but not something that would accidentally say he wanted to take that relationship further. Ron was peeking into the window of a novelty shop when his stomach growled. Looking down at his watch he decided that finding a gift for Bonnie would be much better done on a full stomach.

Turning back the way he'd come Ron walked to the food court and straight to the Bueno Nacho. Of course being Bueno Nacho there was a sizeable line and Ron sighed yet again as he took his place at the end of the line. Standing in line Ron listened to the bustle of the mall, plenty of people had taken advantage of a break in the weather to make a trip to the mall and try to buy gifts for friends and loved ones. Looking down at his watch Ron guessed that he had about three hours before he needed to be at the restaurant in time for the weekend crunch, plans to open up a second restaurant had kept him out of the kitchen more than he'd liked since before Samantha had been born, but for these few weeks he'd be there to help his employees. Ron got to the front of the line and walked over to the second cashier, the teenager behind it reminded him eerily of Ned but Ron was too hungry to give it any further thought.

Looking up at the menu Ron made his order, "I'll have a Naco, grande sized. A Chimmerito, also grande sized. And a large drink."

The pimple faced teen punched the buttons behind the counter, "That'll be five twenty, would you like Diablo sauce with your order?"

"Please and thank you," Ron borrowed Kim's old phrase as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"I guess you're still trying to have a heart attack at thirty," a voice said to Ron's left.

Ron turned to see who had spoken but smiled when he saw who was there, "Felix! How's it going man?"

"Pretty good," his friend used the arms on his robotic wheelchair to grab his own meal, "I didn't get a chance to talk to you at Kim's funeral, the President was pretty much monopolizing you, but how have you been holding up?"

"Fine," Ron said as they started towards a table, "thanks for being there though. But what have you been up to, I think the last time I saw you was our junior year of college."

"We have been busy," Felix laughed, "I've got my own company actually, building cyber-robotic components for satellites. Kim's dad was in not too long ago getting some stuff for a probe to the Kuiper Belt. Oh, and I'm running a small foundation on the side, trying to get more wheelchairs like mine built and out to people who can't afford them. How's life been treating you?"

"Dude nice," Ron took a seat at a table, "Life's been pretty good to me though, I mean aside from Kim being dead. But I opened up a restaurant after college and it's doing really well, I'm actually going to be opening up a second one in a few months. Having a three month old daughter can be a real trial at times but Bonnie moved in two months ago and having another person to help out really makes a difference; plus just having Samantha around makes it all worth it. Say this is probably a really old question but last time we talked you were dating Tara, how'd that ever get started?

"Kinda funny actually," Felix sipped from his drink, "we never really knew each other that well in high school, being both your and Kim's friends we knew each other a little bit. But when we went to college it turned out we went to the same one, during orientation we started hanging out as two familiar faces and spring semester of sophomore year I asked her out."

"Cool," Ron grinned, "you two still talk?"

"Well every now and then," Felix smiled as he held up a hand with a gold band on his ring finger, "now what's this about Bonnie living with you?"

"Yeah, since October," Ron said, "Turns out Josh Mankey was cheating on her with her boss and the same day she found that out she got fired. We ran, well walked into each other and I talked her into staying at my place till she got back on her feet. She's got a new job and all but you can't live in the same house as a three month old girl and not have to get up at odd hours of the night, so between that and her new job plus just normal life she hasn't really had time to look for a new place to live. But I'm in no hurry to have her go, like I said another person to help with the baby is fantastic plus since high school she's really changed for the better, she's actually fun to be around now."

"You know, Tara was really mad about something around the time it sounds like this happened," Felix pondered, "I started asking her about it but a mad Tara is a very scary Tara and I just dropped it, I'll bet that's what she was so steamed up about. It's just kinda hard to imagine you getting along with Bonnie period, much less getting along well enough to live together, there aren't any sparks between you two are there?"

"No," Ron shook his head, "I think Bonnie is going to be soured on the concept of a relationship for awhile and I'm still not nearly ready to be thinking about dating someone new. Which I suppose helps Bonnie and me, we don't have to worry about getting into something we're not ready for. But what I'd like to know is why you didn't call me when you and Tara got married; I thought we were better friends than that."

"Well I wanted to," Felix laughed, "but when I proposed to her you and Kim were in the Andes, something about Dr. Drakken trying to launch missiles at the Panama Canal. And then when Tara and I got married you two were in Tibet, Dr. Dementor had lined a few glaciers with explosives and was threatening China and India's fresh water supplies. Then we just never got around to it, we were talking about it a few months ago but Kim died and we just figured you'd need some time to get over that."

"Now that's what I call bad timing," Ron couldn't hold back his chuckle, "I still feel bad about missing it both times though. Tell you what, any time you and Tara want to stop by my restaurant it'll be on the house, least I can do for you two."

"I, we couldn't," Felix protested, "I mean I totally appreciate the generosity and thanks for the offer but you're trying to run a business."

"Felix," Ron sighed, "that Naco you bought just made me five cents richer. I could stop working today and Samantha would never have to work a day in her life. I just like cooking; Bonnie has started running in the mornings because she was worried she was enjoying my cooking too much."

"Okay," Felix chuckled, "but on one condition; I want my nickel back. Now what are you doing here today?"

"Christmas shopping," Ron said as he took the last bite of his Naco, "I've got my parents Hanukkah gifts, Christmas presents for the Possibles and some stuff for Samantha, but I can't think of anything for Bonnie. I mean I want something that says 'thank you for everything you've done,' but not something that says 'thank you for everything you've done and I've got a few ideas how I can show you after the baby goes to sleep.' And it's surprisingly difficult to think of something that does that, Bonnie doesn't really have a desperate need for anything so it's trying to figure out something she wants but that won't send the wrong message."

"Sounds like someone's worried about getting into something he's not ready for," Felix smirked, "but if you need advice you have come to the right place. Now I don't think you need to worry about sending the message that you want to make sweet sweet love to her down by the fire. Think of something that says 'thanks for all the help you gave me even right after your jerk of a husband divorced you and got you fired now here's something to try and help you put that behind you.' Is there anything she really wants to do this year, maybe ski trip to the Alps, cliff diving in Peru, scuba diving in Tahiti?"

"I don't know about the Alps part of it," Ron scratched his chin, "but Bonnie has been watching and reading a lot of stuff about skiing lately."

"There you go," Felix said enthusiastically, "get her a pair of skis and two tickets to the Swiss Alps, you two can leave Samantha with your parents and spend the new years sipping champagne in a chalet and skiing down to the lodge for dinner."

"I think that might be a little over the top," Ron gave Felix a rather questioning look, "the way you just described it skiing down to the lodge would be the only time Bonnie and I would get out of our hotel room if you get what I mean."

"Yeah," Felix rubbed the back of his neck, "I _might_ have been picturing me and Tara there, but there are plenty of less romantic and just as good places. Maybe skis and a trip to Aspen, not as sweeping her off her feet but still gets her mind off the last few months."

"I think you might be onto something," Ron's eyes glazed over in thought, "I'd have to call my parents and make reservations tonight but I could pull it off. Yeah, I think that's it! Felix you're a genius, now I need to run to the ski store and then off to work where I'm putting you and Tara on the VIP list. And just to make sure we don't end up losing contact for several years again here's my card."

Felix just laughed as Ron started running off in a typical burst of frenetic energy, pocketing the card he figured that he'd hold off on telling Tara for the time being; he could save it as a surprise for her birthday or their anniversary.

Just as the countdown he had started in his head reached zero Ron came running back to the table panting and looked Felix in the eyes, "Felix I'm gonna need help picking out those skis."

**-Meanwhile-**

"Turn right up there," Bonnie pointed to the next street.

"Okay," Tara said, "but will you tell me where we're going for lunch and why I actually had to dress up?"

"I'd tell you," Bonnie smiled, "but we're there, right into the parking lot."

Tara pulled her car into the parking lot and then looked up at the restaurant itself, "Bonnie… this is Chez Ron, you realize you can't just walk into this place right? I mean it's a month long waiting list and not cheap to eat at. You can't have made reservations a month ago and I know you're not planning to treat me to lunch here."

"Just trust me," Bonnie said as she got out of the car, "we'll be fine."

Tara got out and followed Bonnie with a doubtful look on her face, the blonde simply couldn't believe that Bonnie could arrange much less afford a casual lunch at one of Go City's most posh and upcoming restaurants. They rounded the corner of the building and Tara sighed, even this early in the afternoon there was a line for what little seating was set aside for those without reservations; there was absolutely no way they were going to get in. A real shame too Tara thought since she had heard this place was well worth the wait and the prices. Bonnie though didn't seem to share her concern about their situation walking calmly up to the maitre de, what happened when she got there made Tara's jaw drop slightly.

"Good afternoon Ms. Rockwaller, table for two?" Tara stared at the man behind the stand; he looked like an ex if not current member of the Hell's Angels. He stood about six and a half feet, arms as big as her legs and a ponytail.

"Yep," Bonnie said like walking unannounced into a four star restaurant was an everyday occurrence for her, "is Ron in yet?"

"I'm afraid not," the man said, "he called and said that he had run into an old friend, a Felix Renton, and would be running late."

Bonnie just nodded, "well thanks anyways Charlie, when he gets in would you remind him that he needs to pick up Samantha on his way home?"

"Of course," the man Bonnie had identified as Charlie said as they reached an empty table, "now what can I get you two ladies to drink?"

"Just water," Bonnie said, "too early for anything else and we've got plans after this."

Charlie nodded his head and walked off to grab another waiter, Tara turned to Bonnie and fixed a glare on her, "Bonnie would you like to tell me how you can walk into Chez Ron like it's a Bueno Nacho and how you're on a first name basis with the staff here?"

"Sure," Bonnie was perfectly calm, "remember when I called a few months ago?"

"Yeah," Tara growled, there was no doubt which conversation Bonnie was talking about.

"Well," Bonnie cut her off before she could get going, "when I told you I'd found a place to stay for awhile it was actually with Ron. We bumped, well actually we walked into each other that night and he offered to let me use his guest room. I was a bit hesitant since Kim had only died a month ago but he insisted and when he picked up my bags and started walking that was the end of that. And I've been living there ever since."

"Ron," Tara said flatly, "Ron Stoppable? And you never told me this why?"

"I tried," Bonnie replied dryly, "but whenever I'd try you'd start a tirade against Josh. So I figured bringing you here like this might render you speechless long enough for me to actually catch you up on the last few months."

Tara was about to apologize but before she could a young woman looking like she was in college walked up with their water, "Hi Ms. Rockwaller," she said timidly, "Charlie asked me to try being your waiter today, he's been training me and I think I'm ready but if you'd like someone else…"

"You'll do fine Mary," Bonnie smiled at her, "are you going to give us our menus?"

"Oh right!" Mary squeaked as she fumbled the menus out of her arms and down onto the table, "So sorry about that Ms. Rockwaller."

"It's okay," Bonnie said in a calming voice, "go get your other tables and we'll be ready when you get back."

Tara watched the girl walk more like scurry off and turned to Bonnie, "Alright what's gotten into you? I know you mellowed out a bit after high school being away from your family, but that was downright nice."

"I guess I've mellowed out some more," Bonnie shrugged her shoulders, "I was happy enough being married to Josh but my parents had really pushed for me to do it and I guess I resented it for that. Living with Ron, even though we're just two friends I'm just happier since my parents had nothing to do with it, plus you can't be around Samantha and not come away happy, even feeding her at four in the morning. And Mary's not someone who needs people being mean to her. I know my life at home wasn't the best but compared to hers it was peachy, I guess I see a bit of myself in her and I'd rather she not pick up some of my bad habits."

"Well that makes sense, but who's Samantha?" Tara looked over the top of her menu.

"Ron's daughter," Bonnie answered, "she's a blonde haired green eyed angel right now, well except when she's wailing at the top of her lungs at some ungodly hour of the morning. But give her about fifteen years and she'll be a real heartbreaker, poor Ron's already muttering about boys and his little girl."

"Well whatever it is I think you're better off for it," Tara said with an air of authority, "your parents haven't called you though yet have they, I'm guessing that'll kill your happy streak."

"Actually they've called twice," Bonnie sipped at her water, "the first time it took two hours and a half pound of dark chocolate to calm me down. The second time they called Ron picked up the phone, it took me about two hours to stop laughing after that one." At Tara's curious glance she went on, "let's just say that it's good there's nothing between us because if there were and Ron went to ask dad for my hand in marriage he'd be lucky to get out of there alive."

Tara was about to reply but looked over and saw Mary walking towards their table, she turned back to Bonnie and said, "Alright it's crunch time, should I go with the Caesar Salad or the Salmon filet?"

Bonnie looked up and saw the waitress walking over, when she stopped in front of the table Bonnie looked up at her, "Mary is the seafood a good catch today?"

"Charlie said to tell you that Ron is going to cry tears of joy when he sees it," Mary seemed much more collected, "so are you ready to order?"

"Well," Tara said, "if the seafood is that good then how can I resist a salmon filet?"

"And I'll just have the grilled chicken with a no fat sauce," Bonnie grabbed Tara's menu and handed them to Mary.

"I'll have those back to you as soon as I can," Mary took the menus and started off towards the kitchen.

"So," Tara turned back to Bonnie, "you're sure things aren't getting the least bit hot between you and Ron? Last I saw him he was getting to be quite the cutie and you sound like you really like him."

"Tara!" Bonnie's squeak hit a note she didn't know she could hit and her face went scarlet, "I just went through a nasty divorce and his wife died not so long ago. Neither of us is ready for anything like that, and I think that really helps us since there's no worrying about someone liking you back."

"Aw," Tara pouted, "come on, you can tell me, and you were blushing. Something's up I know it!"

"I might have walked in on him in the shower a week ago," Bonnie muttered, "but I turned right around and walked out, nothing happened! Plus when you're living together something like that is bound to happen eventually so there's nothing more to it."

"Oh!" Tara clapped her hands together, "and is he bigger than Josh, come on tell me."

"Being bigger than Josh isn't necessarily saying much," Bonnie scoffed and then went red again, "but Ron doesn't have anything to worry about.

Tara just giggled at that, "Well you still need to be careful, if you're not you're going to fall for Ron. Unless you already have, I mean there has to be a reason you're still living there even though you've found a new job."

Bonnie glared at her best friend, "well for one it's a very nice place; you saw that when you picked me up. Plus it's close to my job and they don't have a problem with me working from home when I need to stay there and watch Samantha. Who is a whole new reason, a three month old baby has me and Ron just slightly outnumbered and I couldn't live with myself if I just bolted, not to mention that for all the hours she makes me keep I love having Samantha around. Let's also not forget that just by living there I get to drive my parents crazy and that alone is reason enough not to want to move out. And yes I will admit that I enjoy living with Ron, he's funny and nice, and his cooking has made me start running in the morning. There are plenty of reasons I don't want to move out, I could go on if you wanted me to."

"I get the point," Tara held up her hands in mock surrender, "There's not really any great reason for you to move out and lots of reasons for you to stay. But you're still sure you don't like Ron?"

Bonnie and Tara looked at each other without saying anything. Tara was of course the first to crack and in short order the two women were sitting there giggling like they were back in high school talking about the hottie of the week.

"So," Bonnie said at last, "feel like going shopping after we're done here?"

"Sure," Tara smiled, "there are some pretty good sales going on right now and it would be a shame for us not to take advantage of them."

The conversation settled down by then and by the time Mary came back with their lunches Bonnie and Tara were busily planning out their shopping route for the rest of the afternoon.

**-That Night-**

Bonnie grabbed the last of the bags from the back seat and waved to Tara as the blonde started towards her own home. Bonnie turned to walk inside just as the door opened and Ron walked out carrying Samantha.

"Hey Bonnie," he said walking up to her, "someone had fun shopping I see."

"Yeah," Bonnie sat her bags down on the sidewalk, "did you have a nice time at work?"

"It was okay," Ron sighed, "I spent a few hours filling out paperwork and making phone calls about the new restaurant but by the time I was ready to start cooking the staff was chugging along and they made me just take off early."

"So let me guess," Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "you cooked up a feast for us."

"Yep," Ron smiled, "and I got the lights on the Christmas tree, I brought Samantha out here to light it up."

"I'm gonna go out on another limb," Bonnie grinned, "You were waiting for me to get here so I could hold on to her while you turned on the lights."

"You're reading my mind," Ron's smile grew as he held Samantha out for Bonnie to take, "now wait here while I go flip the switch."

"It's weird," Bonnie said as she took Samantha, "You're Jewish and yet you've got more Christmas spirit than I do."

"Well when I turn the lights on note the Menorah in the window," Ron said with no small amount of pride in his voice, "plus I'm fairly sure that I can be Jewish and want peace on Earth and goodwill towards men and all that."

"That's not what I…" Bonnie stammered.

Ron just laughed, "Gotcha! I know what you mean though. It's just that ever since I can remember I celebrated Christmas with Kim's family and by the time I moved out on my own celebrating it had just become habit. I always used to drive my parents crazy waiting to open my Hanukkah presents till Christmas morning. But anyways the mish-mash of holidays works for me."

"I was going to give you the present I bought you at the mall tonight," Bonnie smirked, "but since you're just going to wait till Christmas to open it I'm going to dig them all out and put them under the tree. And don't you dare try to find them when you go plug those lights in."

"Well thanks for the idea," Ron started walking towards the house.

Bonnie stood there holding Samantha as Ron jogged into the house, a few seconds later the tree lit up with little points of light and right beside it in the window was a menorah. Then the outside of the house came to life with the many strings of lights Ron had labored to put up. The effect of his work though was well worth it Bonnie thought, the only thing the house was missing to be right out of a postcard was snowfall and a happy family standing outside waving.

"Looks good doesn't it," Ron came jogging up to stand beside Bonnie.

"I have to admit," Bonnie said shifting Samantha in her arms, "you did outdo yourself this time. I was just thinking all you need is some snowfall and a happy family and you could start your own postcard business."

"Well I can't do much about the snow," Ron turned from looking at the house to look at Bonnie, "but someone here seems to think we're making a nice little family picture."

Bonnie looked down at Samantha who was looking up at the two adults with a smile on her face and was trying to lift her arms towards the two. Ron leaned over and smiled down at her, Samantha's smile grew and she made a sound that either meant she was happy or had just fouled her diaper, since nothing seemed different and she didn't start crying Bonnie assumed that Samantha was happy and smiled down at her too. Five minutes later Ron picked up Bonnie's bags and the three made their way into the cheerfully lit house.

**-Christmas Day-**

Ron was perfectly happy sleeping in on Christmas and opening his presents around noon. However in the four years they had been married Kim had never once let him sleep in to his satisfaction. And even though they weren't married Bonnie it seemed was just as hostile to the idea as Kim had been. Which really bummed Ron out since Bonnie was like him a night person and he'd hoped she would take the opportunity to sleep the morning away. However Samantha had decided that she wanted breakfast at seven in the morning and if Bonnie was up and it was Christmas then Ron was darn well going to be up too.

Ron drug his tired body out of bed and threw on his bathrobe over his pajamas. Walking to the kitchen he found Bonnie pacing back and forth holding Samantha in one arm and a bottle in the other. Noting the tired look on her face Ron trudged his way over to the coffee machine and turned it on. Reaching up he grabbed two mugs from the cabinet over the coffee machine and set them down. Then he walked into the family room and turned on the tree lights; opening up the front door he walked out to the end of the walk and picked up the newspaper. By the time Ron walked back into the kitchen the coffee maker had filled the room with the aroma of roast beans.

A few minutes later the coffee was done, Samantha had had her fill been burped and was settling in to sleep on Bonnie's shoulder. Ron gently took the baby from Bonnie who walked to the laundry room and threw the towel Samantha had burped up on into the basket. Ron walked slowly into the family room and sat down on the couch with Samantha sound asleep in his arms, Bonnie walked out of the kitchen shortly thereafter with two mugs of coffee letting up trails of steam.

"Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah," she whispered setting one of the mugs down next to Ron and taking a seat next to him with the other in her hand.

"Likewise," Ron whispered back.

Very slowly Ron slipped an arm out from under Samantha and reached over for his coffee, he and Bonnie spent the next few minutes just looking at the tree and slowly sipping their coffee being perfectly content to let the moment continue. However Samantha squirming in her sleep brought the moment to an end and Bonnie silently got up, walked into Ron's room and came back with a blanket for Samantha. Ron very carefully lay her down on the blanket and he and Bonnie took up seats on the floor.

"Ready to start opening presents?" Bonnie leaned in and whispered to Ron.

Ron responded by simply bending over grabbing a present and handing it to Bonnie. Present in hand Bonnie tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a book on skiing for beginners from Tara.

"Just what I wanted," Bonnie said quietly, "Tara knew I've gotten into skiing lately but I have no clue what I'm doing."

Ron just smiled at that and they spent the next half hour sipping at their coffee and opening presents from various family members and friends. Not that Ron thought of Hanukkah in terms of loot but the haul this year had been pretty good. Felix had gotten him a very nice spice rack he intended to break in at dinner and his parents had sent him a brand new very nice and cushy bathrobe he was wearing at the moment. Bonnie had quickly commandeered his old one and on her smaller frame the fabric surrounded her in an ocean of dark blue. The only present left to give was Ron's skis and trip and that was hidden in his closet. He was just about to pry Bonnie away from Tara's book when a knock sounded at the door; Samantha stirred but fortunately stayed asleep. Bonnie got up and padded over to the door Ron's bathrobe trailing down to her feet. She opened the door to show a deliveryman holding a clipboard and what looked like a set of keys.

"Bonnie Rockwaller?" He said as she opened the door.

"Yeah," Bonnie replied.

"I have a delivery from your parents," he handed her the keys, "they hope you'll use it to move back out to Middleton or at least visit them from time to time."

Ron got up and walked over to Bonnie as the deliveryman turned around and walked away from the house muttering about always having to work Christmas. In their short driveway, just behind Ron's car was parked a beautiful and brand new Lexus, even from their front door the two could tell that Bonnie's parents had gotten it with all the options and the cost was at least in the high tens of thousands of dollars.

"I suppose you did need a car," Ron said trying to cautiously approach the topic.

"Yeah," Bonnie sighed, "but this is by far the nicest gift I'm going to get and my parents will waste no time holding that over me and trying to get me to move back in with them."

"Well it's a good thing you haven't seen my present then," Ron smiled broadly, "I think I deserve my chance to outdo them."

Bonnie closed the front door and looked on as Ron ran back into his room, opened his closet and emerged with a pair of skis and a small envelope.

"Make sure you look in the envelope," Ron said as he handed the package to Bonnie.

"Ron," Bonnie breathed as she opened up the envelope and looked at the contents.

"Four days three nights for two in Aspen," Ron said proudly, "just my way of saying thanks for being so much help over the last few months."

"Thank you," Bonnie smiled at him, laying down the skis she quickly hugged him before her grin turned more scheming and she said, "I just have to call my parents now."

Ron felt a smile creep onto his face as he watched Bonnie grab her cell phone and then listened in on the conversation.

"Mom?" Bonnie said, "Yeah I got your gift and it's great, but you won't believe what Ron got me for Christmas."

AN: I have good news and bad news both of which are I will not be going to Japan this summer to teach English. Good because it means more writing, bad because it would have been cool to live in Japan for a year. Anywho I'll just focus on law school and cranking out great stories now. And stories, well would you believe that I've been shooting for about five thousand to fifty five hundred words per chapter in this story? Yeah me neither. I do like this chapter though, it's loaded with snippets from conversations I have in real life, which tends to be my greatest source for all my one-liners. But a busy chapter, lots going on and more to come, like the Season 4 premiere, and more chapters. So stay tuned and just to let you know, that loud cry of joy you'll hear when Season 4 starts, that's me.


	3. Happy Reunions

Second Chances

Disclaimer: Kim Possible (noun): A Disney Channel cartoon not owned by this writer.

Chapter Three: Happy Reunions

**-Six Months Later-**

Samantha squirmed in her grandmother's lap, at nine months old she couldn't quite walk yet but crawling and rolling about were well within her grasp and being in a new environment she wanted to get out and explore it with her newfound motor abilities. Suddenly she stopped squirming about, grunted and then smiled.

"I'd forgotten what having a baby is like," Mrs. Stoppable sighed, "as cute as you were as a baby Ronald I'm glad you grew up."

"Did she ruin another diaper?" Ron looked over at his mother, "I'll go change her, be back in a few."

"Don't worry about it dear," his mother stood up, "I'll take care of it, you've changed enough diapers already, and even if it is a bit smelly it's an opportunity to spend some time with my granddaughter."

Ron, his dad, and the Dr's. P all chuckled at that, his mom took it in the spirit of good fun and walked into the bathroom to do the honors.

"You were saying you had one last piece of news you wanted to tell us," his dad said.

"Yeah," Ron leaned back, "Felix and Tara asked Bonnie and I to be the godparents when their baby comes, which she's six months along so shouldn't be too long on that."

"That's great," Mr. Dr. P. said from the couch, "now how's the second restaurant doing?"

"It's doing great," Ron smiled, "my only complaint is that with two restaurants to run I've got even less time in the kitchen."

"I know the feeling," Mr. Dr. P. laughed, "finally made senior fellow at the space center and I spend so much time administrating projects that I've practically forgotten what it's like to design anything."

"No plans to try for a third restaurant?" His dad asked.

"Not for a good long while if ever," Ron sat back down, "I'd like to still be able to spend some time in the kitchen every now and then. Plus there were a lot of late nights getting the second one open and Bonnie had to watch Samantha all alone when I was doing that, I think if I tried that stunt again she'd kill me."

"And how's Bonnie doing?" His mom walked out of the bathroom holding Samantha, "still living with you and Samantha?"

"Yeah," Ron said, "I think by this point Bonnie moving out would be something I'd call about. But odd as it is it's still working out great for both of us, we're both close to where we work, we get along pretty darn well, and in any case it's become so routine that I don't think Bonnie is in any big hurry to move out and I'm in no hurry to have her move out."

"Well I think it's nice to see you happy again," Mrs. Dr. P. joined in the conversation, "you were so sad after Kim died and I'm glad your moping seems over with. I for one think that Bonnie moving in with you was the best thing that could have happened to both of you."

"And I think that too," Ron said, "but there are just times when I think it might be too good of a thing."

"Ron," his mom said gently, "I know there are days when you feel like you'll wake up the next morning and find out all the late nights were just a dream and you have to go through it all again all by yourself but you're nine months closer to being done with it, just hang in there dear."

"That's not what I meant, but there are days like that." Ron admitted, "what I meant though is that I know Kim's dead but it still doesn't seem that long ago and I just keep waking up in the night feeling guilty about getting so close to Bonnie so soon after Kim died. And the worst part is that I know Bonnie isn't trying to do anything; she just looks that good on her own, and she's just trying to be a good housemate and I'm starting to freak out and see double meanings in everything all on my own."

"If you're feeling guilty about that ski trip son don't." His dad interjected, "When your mother and I were in college we spent a whole week backpacking in the sand dunes, just the two of us. We weren't dating or anything, we were just friends having a fun time together. Plus your mother had just helped me pass the final exam in my macroeconomics class and I wanted to show her that I appreciated it. I'm not sure I would have taken her on a ski trip to Aspen but then a final and a baby are two entirely different things and it was May and not December."

"And besides," Mrs. Dr. P. followed up, "you both came back from that trip much more relaxed than you had been; some time to get to know each other without having to take care of a baby or worry about work obviously did the two of you worlds of good."

"Yeah but that's when all this started," Ron sighed.

"All what dear?" His mom asked.

"Feeling like I'm getting too close to Bonnie," Ron answered, "it was our second night in Aspen and of course we'd been skiing since the lifts started, we'd finished skiing and we were going to walk into town and get some dinner. Our cabin had one bedroom with two beds and Bonnie had changed first, I was in there changing when she shouted to me that I should wait up because she was going to take a shower. Only through the closed door and up the stairs I thought she said to wait up that I should take a shower. So I grabbed an extra pair of pants and walked to the bathroom, which it turns out Bonnie had forgotten to lock and she was just taking off her towel to turn on the shower when I walked in. She threw some stuff at me, I ran, and we cleared it up after that but still it was not a good thing."

"Not good how Ron?" Mrs. Dr. P. asked, "Did you see something bad?"

"No," Ron said, "and that's the bad thing about it."

"That doesn't make sense honey," his mom joined in, "how can it have been a bad thing if you didn't see anything bad?"

"Because I saw good things," Ron said, "and that's a bad thing."

"I still don't get what you're talking about," Mrs. Dr. P. had a curious look on her face, "how can seeing something good be a bad thing?"

"Because," Ron tried to explain, "it's a bad thing that I think what I saw was a good thing."

"Ron," his mom said, "you're going to have to be more specific."

His dad put a hand on his mom's shoulder and said, "actually dear it's just that what he's talking about is a male thing, as smart as you and Dr. Possible are he could spend all day trying to explain and I still don't think you'd understand."

"It's true," Mr. Dr. P. mimicked the gesture, "I understand what Ronald is saying entirely. And Ronald you shouldn't feel like you're getting too close to Bonnie too quickly, if we were having this conversation when you were picking up Samantha after the ski trip then I'd probably agree with you. Now that's not to say I think you should be rushing off to the altar, because I think it's still a bit soon for that. But I don't think that there's anything wrong in thinking that a woman, particularly one you've lived with for the last eight months, is attractive. Plus you're a young eligible bachelor, and from the sound of things you could do far worse than falling for Bonnie. Take things slow, but if you fall in love with Bonnie then that's that and you should be happy you're getting a second chance at love."

"Not that we're looking for any more grandchildren," his dad laughed, "but I think that's about everything I could have told you. As much of an angel as Samantha is, a nine month old daughter would probably turn most women right around. That Bonnie has been there for eight months period, much less how well you two have gotten along speaks volumes about how much she's grown since you and Kim used to complain about her in high school. And since she's not the Bonnie you complained about in high school I think that if the opportunity came along you'd have nothing to lose and everything to gain from taking a chance with her."

Samantha chose that moment to start squirming about again, pointing to her mouth, and generally making it known that she was hungry.

"Okay, this I'll take care of," Ron got up and took his daughter from his mom, as he did so his own stomach growled, "Well I guess if she's not the only one who's hungry anyone feel like lunch?"

"Your father has some hamburger patties in the freezer," his mom said, "I'm sure if you boys would like to grill those up we could have a lovely lunch. Ron would you like us to call Bonnie and her parents, see if they'd like to join us, we'd love to have them over."

"I don't think so mom," Ron said from the kitchen door, "I'm fairly sure Bonnie's parents wanted to spend the whole of our day here alone with her and I don't think her parents would be too happy to meet me."

"And why is that Ron?" Mrs. Dr. P. quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Well when Bonnie first moved in she called her parents to tell them what was going on," Ron said, "and a few weeks later they called, and I never really got what was going on in that conversation but it took two hours and a bar and a half of dark chocolate to calm Bonnie down. The second time they called I just happened to pick it up, and I thought I was perfectly reasonable during the call; I just pointed out that Bonnie is a grown woman and can make her own decisions, and that she seemed happy enough where she was. Mr. Rockwaller didn't quite take it that way, it was an interesting call though, first time I've ever been called a plebian. Bonnie took it fine though, she was laughing for the next two hours."

Samantha let out a small whine and squirmed in Ron's arms letting him know that he had waited long enough to feed her. He walked into the kitchen to grab Samantha's bottle to the laughter of his parents and the Dr's. P.

**-Meanwhile-**

Bonnie got out of the car and followed her parents into their house. Lunch with them at the country club had been unpleasant to say the least, a nightmare might be a better description, it was an experience she could go another number of years without repeating. But it was blessedly silent, her parents, high class snobs that they were, thought that talking while eating in a public place was horribly lower class. And while if she had been there with Tara or Ron or any of her friends Bonnie would have chatted away just to rile up the other high nosed people, with her parents silence was something she would do her best to maintain for as long as possible.

She wanted nothing more than for this day to be over and done with, she'd meet Ron and his family at the airport, and then he, she, and Samantha would all catch the evening supersonic flight back to Go-City. At least though with the advent of regular commercial supersonic flights a day trip to Middleton was feasible with their schedules, and thankfully they could do just a trip. Not that many years ago when air travel was still subsonic Ron and Bonnie would have had to come out for a whole week to make the time and cost balance out, but now Bonnie could say she had visited her parents and she only had to spend one day with them.

Bonnie figured that as long as she could simply keep remembering her dad's face when her parents had picked her up from the airport she'd be fine. She and Ron had met their families at the curb and when they walked out the door Bonnie made sure to be holding Samantha and the baby bag. Ron hadn't understood at first, protesting that he should carry something. But as soon as they'd stepped outside and he'd seen the look on her parent's faces Bonnie thought that Ron got it. Then handing Samantha off to Ron and presenting the perfect family picture while her parents stood at their car mouths agape was even better. The icing on the cake though had been whispering what she was doing to Ron's family and the Possibles whose laughter had driven her parents even farther up the wall.

Of course it had meant listening to, rather ignoring her parents on the ride back to their house bemoaning her association with the 'noveau riche,' a term they had thrown around like candy at Halloween. When they had gotten back to her parents house her mother fussed over her forgetting for what seemed to Bonnie like the millionth time that she was twenty seven rather than seven. Before going to lunch Bonnie had been forced to endure her parents gushing about the achievements of Connie and Lonnie, both were married, had three kids, and had what her parents termed 'respectable' jobs, another jab at Bonnie's career choice. Bonnie had gotten through that by reminding herself of her parents discomfort that morning and by running through her head the latest numbers of the sales contract she was drafting at work.

She had almost hoped that Ron or his parents would call asking if she and or her parents wanted to do something with them. However she knew that wouldn't happen; Ron and his families just didn't understand the depths of Bonnie's dislike for her parents and so meaning all the best they would make her spend the whole day with two of her least favorite people on the planet. Just as Bonnie was about to burst and scream her father had announced that they were going to go over to the Middleton Country Club for a 'civilized lunch,' Bonnie resisted the urge to let slip that most nights of the week she ate food prepared by a chef who ran a four star restaurant.

Still the chefs at the country club, while not nearly as good as Ron, did their best and Bonnie had nothing against the food at lunch, just the company. On the drive to the country club her parents had lamented that Bonnie's clothes were at least two months out of style and they would have to explain to all their so called friends that since Bonnie was traveling she had had to dress for comfort and couldn't wear the latest fashions. Bonnie hadn't been able to hold in her snort of laughter at that. Caring for a baby had quickly stripped Bonnie of the need to keep up with the latest fashion trends, that incredibly cute blouse she'd seen shopping last weekend would stain just as easily as the old shirts she wore around the house and would be much harder to clean

Bonnie sat down in one of the chairs about her parent's living room and waited for them to pick the next topic they'd belittle her about. She'd already had to endure their disdain for her choice of friends and the inevitable comparison that found her lacking before her sisters. Not to mention their not so subtle disapproval of her decision to become a lawyer rather than a job her parents would approve of like an event or wedding planner. And she mustn't forget her parents' disappointment with her failing to produce grandchildren, at twenty seven Connie and Lonnie had already had one child and were working hard trying for number two. Bonnie though was in no hurry to have children; being single, despite Tara's jokes to the contrary, was a major stumbling block to that, and the second larger one was Samantha, Bonnie might not have been her birth mother but she thought of Samantha as her daughter more often than not and when referring to the three of them Ron tended to call Samantha their daughter. The point was though that there were no new children in Bonnie's foreseeable future and her sisters had made sure the family line was in no danger of ending so she saw no reason to try and make her own contribution.

"So Bonnie," her mom said and Bonnie held in a sigh, "have you given any thought to at least moving back to Middleton? Your father and I could help you get an excellent job and we think it's time you started looking for someone new in your life to get over Josh."

"Mom," Bonnie groaned, "I already have a great job in Go City, I'm happier at Nakasumi Toys then at any job I've ever had. And I'm so over Josh, that right there was probably the first time in at least six months I've even given him any thought. And to answer the question you didn't ask that's the best way I could ever get back at him, show him that for all he tried to do to me it's failed miserably and in fact I'm better off without him than I was with him."

"Dear," her mom said in an incredibly condescending tone of voice, "working for a toy company, well people might think that it's not a real job. As a Rockwaller that's something you shouldn't have to deal with and your father and I don't want to see that happen to you. And even if you think you're over Josh and you've gotten back at him if you must bring that up other people might not see it that way. You need to find another nice man, get married and start a family that will really show Josh that you're 'over' him."

"Please," Bonnie scoffed, "have you ever seen my paycheck? No one would think that Nakasumi Toys isn't a real job if they saw how much I'm making there. And I'd just like to say this for both of your 'suggestions' I don't care what anyone else thinks, the opinion poll for Bonnie Rockwaller's life starts and ends with me."

"Young lady," her father said in a grave tone of voice, "you need to make a clear statement as a member of this family that you are strong, and the way to do that in this case is to marry someone and start a family, your mother has been talking around and she has several suggestions I think would work wonderfully."

Bonnie glared at her parents, "Just being married doesn't necessarily make a family you two should know that better than anyone. And married or not I am part of a family, Ron, Samantha, and I are a family whatever you might want to say, and at the end of the day we're a much better family than this one has ever been. So for the record, no I will not move back out here, no I will not get a new job to make you two happy, and under no circumstances am I going to get married just because you want me to. In fact if I didn't think him much better than that I'd go drag Ron to a chapel right now just to see the look on your faces, that is if you two could get your noses out of the sky long enough to actually see something other than your egos."

Bonnie felt very self-satisfied after her long overdue rant, her parents however didn't see it so well; her mom pursed her lips till they seemed to disappear and her father adopted an icy cold look, a sure sign that he was very angry.

"Bonnie Marie Rockwaller," her mother had the gall to sound scandalized, "you will not speak to your father and I in that tone of voice and you will not demean our family's good name. We aren't telling you to do anything just to make us happy we just want you to listen to us so we can try to help you figure out what's best for you. And on rare occasions, like this one, you have to trust that your father and I know from our experience what will make you happiest, and in this case you need to move away from that Ron Stoppable and stop leeching, it's unbecoming a Rockwaller. Find a job that in ten years you can look back on and be happy with, and start your own family to show Josh that you are in fact over him."

"That's the worst thing about you two," Bonnie half laughed half cried, "you really think that you're always right with your holier than thou art act. I still live with Ron because I want to, I've been making more than enough money from my new job to afford my own place for awhile now and you just can't accept that I'm there because I'm happy. And you don't know what's going to make me happiest, I'll look back in ten years and love what I was doing now, the same thing with Josh I'm over him and I don't care who else thinks that. It sounds to me like you just want me to be Connie or Lonnie and I'd be miserable if I tried to live like one of them."

"You could certainly do worse than your sisters for a role model," her father's voice was tense, "and you really don't think that Ronald let you into his house without expecting something in return do you? He'll want you to spread your legs and repay him soon enough."

"You just hate Ron because he was right and you were wrong," Bonnie's voice had real anger in it, "you are right about one thing though, I could do worse than Connie or Lonnie for a role model I could have either of you two as a role model. And Ron doesn't want anything from me, it's called doing something nice because it's the right thing to do, something I didn't learn until I left high school thanks to this family. So I don't want to hear you two ever accusing Ron of anything like that ever again, he's more of a man than anyone in this family ever had claim to and he'd never do anything like that."

"You will not speak to us like that!" her parents shouted at the same time.

"Or what," Bonnie laughed, "you'll give me the old our house our rules threat? In case you haven't noticed I don't live in your house anymore and I sure don't live by your rules. Or maybe you're going to try and make me care about the family enough to do what you say? Well nothing I've ever done before has made you the least bit happy and I doubt this will either so no thanks to you. Hey, you might even say that if I storm out of here I'm never welcome back to try and scare me into being your little lapdog? In fact I'd love for you to do that because I'd love to walk right out on you. Actually that's exactly what I'm going to do right now, storm on out of here and if I'm lucky it'll be another twenty seven years before I have to talk to anyone else with the last name Rockwaller again."

Then over her parents protests Bonnie got up from her chair and stormed right out. The Stoppable's house wasn't too far from her parents and since they were going to meet up at the airport Bonnie didn't think it would be too much of a problem to end her day with her parents early and just ride to the airport with Ron and his family.

**-That Night-**

Ron looked back and forth between Bonnie and the road as he drove from Go-City airport back home. Bonnie had walked up to his house just as he was about to call her and make sure her parents were going to get her to the airport on time. She hadn't said anything but Ron could tell that Bonnie's day with her parents had been anything but nice. Samantha was very tired after a day of travel and was asleep in her child seat in the rear of the car.

They had caught the seven thirty flight out of Middleton and after the normal delays and traffic it was almost nine before Ron strapped Samantha into her car seat and started up the car for the drive home. Bonnie's only words during the whole trip had been an offer to carry Samantha when they got back to Go-City, Ron had pointed out that she looked pretty worn out herself and that being completely awake he'd take it on himself to carry Samantha.

Bonnie blew an errant strand of hair away from her face and Ron chanced a glance over at her, the oncoming lights seemed to silhouette her features in a light that gave her an almost ethereal glow and Ron couldn't help but run through his head when his parents and moreover the Dr's. P. had given him some rather overt hints that they would be more than fine with him and Bonnie becoming more than just housemates. And looking over at Bonnie's pensive face Ron couldn't help but want to make her smile again, something he had noticed wanting to do for Kim when his feelings for her had turned from friendship to more.

Turning off the highway Ron guided the car down the smaller streets of Go-City past the shopping center where he and Bonnie bought groceries, past the mall he had run into Felix in and finally into their neighborhood. The sky was completely black by the time he pulled the car into their townhouse but the street lamps were on meaning that once he turned off the headlights there was still plenty of light to walk into the house with. Samantha stayed completely asleep as Ron got her out of the car, carried her to her room, changed her into her pajamas, and tucked her into her crib.

Walking into the kitchen he saw Bonnie, changed into her own pajamas, reach up to one of the upper cabinets and pull out the bottle of whiskey. Ron had bought it shortly after he and Kim were married for the purpose of having something to take a shot of when he'd had a truly bad day; he'd only ever taken one shot out of it. Bonnie walked over to another cabinet and pulled out a shot glass, she poured the whiskey into the glass and then downed it. Then she calmly screwed the top back onto the bottle of whiskey, walked it back over to its cabinet, and put it back in. After that she turned around to face Ron and leaned against the counter.

"So I take it you didn't have such a great day with your parents." Ron tried to sound as sympathetic as possible.

"Just once," Bonnie said in a soft voice he'd never heard her use, "just once I'd like them to be proud of something I do. I make more money than Connie and Lonnie together, but to my parents I don't have a 'real' job." Tears started rolling down her face, "My jerk ex-husband divorces me, if that happened to either of my sisters they'd be completely helpless. I come out of it better than I was before and they make me feel like it was my fault that bastard started cheating on me in the first place. And they think I'm some sort of second rate squatter or something living here, can you believe my dad thinks you want to proposition me for sex like it's some kind of rent for this place?"

Ron thought a little while for the best thing he could say to make Bonnie feel better but ended up walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her in a hug. Bonnie buried her head into Ron's shoulder and he could feel his shirt start to soak up her tears immediately. Bonnie completely broke down and cried for almost twenty minutes, Ron just stood there hugging her trying to let her know that he would do his best to be whatever she needed including being a shoulder to cry on.

Some twenty minutes later Bonnie finally stopped crying, she pulled her head of Ron's shoulder but still refused to look up as she spoke, "I'm sorry Ron, I'm usually much more in control than that. But I was just feeling so good before talking to my parents and I guess my mood just had that much farther to fall. And now I feel even worse because I just soaked your shirt right through."

Ron placed a finger under Bonnie's chin and made her look up at him as he started talking, "It's alright Bonnie I've got a shirt on under this, it's like I was ready to be a shoulder to cry on, and even if you did soak that one through I've got another shoulder for backup. And don't let your parents get to you, the list of people you need to please in life should start and end with you. Now tell you what, you get yourself something to drink that's not whiskey while I go change into my pajamas, then I've got a queen sized bed you can rant about your parents all you like from and I'll stay up all night if that's what it takes to listen to you."

Bonnie laughed softly and nodded, Ron walked back to his room where he quickly threw on his pajama pants and an old t shirt. He opened the door and saw Bonnie walking through the living room with a steaming hot cup of what he guessed was tea in her hands. He stepped aside and Bonnie walked into his room where she put the cup of tea down on one of the bedside stands and then took a seat on the bed tucking her knees under her chin. Ron walked over and sat down on his side of the bed, stretching his legs out and crossing his arms as he relaxed against the headboard.

"The worst part is that my parents make me feel guilty for more than what they're getting on my case about," Bonnie softly said from over her knees, "I mean right now I'm feeling guilty about how I always used to put you down in high school and tried my best to make your life miserable just to make myself feel a little better. Right now I can't imagine how you could have found it in you to make that offer to me when we ran into each other; I know I would have laughed at me if I'd been in your position."

Ron looked over at Bonnie and stretched an arm out around her shoulder; Bonnie leaned right over and scooted till she was up against him. "It's simple," he said at last, "I forgave you long ago."

Bonnie turned her head from staring out past her knees and looked up at Ron, "But... How? I spent nearly every day of high school calling you a loser, putting you down, keeping you at the bottom of the food chain, I was terrible to you."

"I just did," Ron lightly shrugged his shoulders, "plus you got a second chance of doing things after you moved out from your parent's house and look how you turned out, I'd say you did pretty good on your own."

Bonnie outright snuggled into him and even though Ron wasn't looking at her he could see the smile on her face when she spoke, "Thanks, can I ask one more favor though?"

"Sure," Ron said quietly, "keep in mind though that I'm very comfortable here."

Bonnie giggled a little bit at that but calmed down, "nothing big, can you just talk to me? Pretty much all I've heard all day is my parents telling me how I'm not good enough and how I haven't made the right choices. I don't even care if you just want to list off all the things they're wrong about, I just want to hear someone who's not my parents saying anything to me other than what a failure I am."

"Well for starters you're not a failure," Ron whispered.

After that Ron kept talking, quietly since he didn't want to wake Samantha, in the end he wasn't sure if Bonnie fell asleep and he just kept talking or if he fell asleep and she just didn't move. All he was sure of was that at some point he fell asleep talking and Bonnie was still curled up against him, and that she didn't feel at all bad there.

AN: So it's really cold in Colorado, like below zero. But unless you live here you probably don't care and you want me to move on to more important things, well ok. First off, never try writing drama to Flogging Molly; I had to rewrite the first half of Bonnie's scene while editing this. Second, for the record 'Ron's families' is not a typo it is in fact quite intentional and I don't think I need to elaborate on what it means. About the rest of this chapter, well I like it; I like how this whole story is going for that matter. That last scene though is probably my favorite out of this chapter, a much needed catharsis for Bonnie and what better to help her along the way then some Ronshine. And speaking of Ronshine, you'll all get another dose next Friday when the next chapter comes out, filled with stuff… cool… stuff!


	4. So Close

Second Chances

Disclaimer: I own it all! I own it all! Just kidding.

Chapter Four: So Close

**-One Month Later-**

"So you're just working a half day," Bonnie finished washing the plate and handed it to Ron, "why? We were just in Middleton last month."

"Yeah," Ron sighed, "but it turns out that there are laws about how many hours you can work in a given time and according to my employees I can work from one to six today and that's it. You're a lawyer; couldn't you have told me about this or better yet how to get around it?"

"I work in sales," Bonnie pointed a soapy finger at herself, "not employee relations and I'm fairly sure that's what this law would be under. But if you've worked enough hours that your employees would actually go dig through the laws to find that then you need to take more time off."

"You're taking their side?" Ron groaned, "I'm the good guy here, the guy who just wants to work hard to make sure his business is successful, you're supposed to be taking my side. Not only are they making me take tomorrow off but after that they're capping me at fifty hours a week."

"Ron," Bonnie said dryly, "forty hours a week is what most people do. Your restaurant isn't a startup that needs you constantly there to keep it from falling apart. You should be glad to be working less; more time at home means more time with Samantha."

"But what would I do?" Ron gestured with the dish he was holding, "I've been working on this schedule for so long that I can't think of anything I could do with all that free time."

"Well," Bonnie wiped drops of water off her face, "like I already said you could try spending some more time with your daughter, our front yard needs trimming and so does Mrs. Henderson's and you could do that, I've seen your reading list you could start catching up on that, I suppose if you are in fact that desperate to keep cooking you could try coming up with some new dishes, would you like me to keep going?"

"I get the point," Ron held up his hands in mock surrender, "I don't suppose you'd also suggest that I help out when you go shopping?"

"I've heard worse ideas," Bonnie smiled coyly, "but I wouldn't have thought you'd be the type to want to go shopping."

"Oh I don't," Ron said, "I'm just surprised you didn't try to slip that in there somehow that's all."

"Would it have made any difference if I had?" Bonnie pulled off the innocent look perfectly.

"Probably not," Ron smiled, "but if you'd like I can pick up some DVD's tomorrow with all this new found free time and we can watch them after Samantha goes to bed."

"That'd work," Bonnie felt herself lightly blush, "just make sure you don't pick up any chick flicks I feel like an action night."

"Super Monster Mutant Exploding Freaks Eight sound good to you?" Ron quirked an eyebrow at Bonnie.

"As long as you also get number six I think I'll be good," Bonnie said, "eight is good but six was the best of the bunch. Now you need to go throw on some clothes to go to work in, I'm pretty sure if you get there a few minutes after one you won't be able to work till a few minutes past six."

Ron hurried out of the kitchen to go change for work. Bonnie walked over to the stack of dry dishes and started putting them back into the cabinets around the kitchen, of course she and Ron had a dishwasher but somehow occasionally doing dishes together had become something of a quirk of theirs over the last month. Ever since they had fallen asleep together something had… changed between them. They still slept in their own rooms and their relationship was still entirely platonic and on a friendly level but doing things that might normally be considered more husband and wife was no longer much of a problem. Last weekend Bonnie had suggested and Ron had agreed that with the nice weather a trip to the nearby park would be a great idea, Ron had packed a backpack full of food and they'd spent a great afternoon out for all intents and purposes as a family.

"Am I all set?" Ron came running into the kitchen in his chefs' uniform.

"Let's get over to the front door and I'll check you out," Bonnie said.

They walked into the family room and stopped at the front door; Bonnie looked up at Ron, smoothed out his shoulders and just for the heck of it put his floppy chef hat on him.

"I think the hat is a bit over the top," Ron said amusedly, "but I take it this means I pass muster?"

"Of course the hat isn't over the top," Bonnie opened the front door, "but yes you do pass muster."

"Alright then," Ron chuckled, "have fun while I'm gone."

Suddenly Bonnie was struck by an urge she couldn't resist, "one last thing." She leaned up on her toes and quickly pecked Ron on the cheek, "have a nice day at work."

She pushed Ron out the door and then shut it. Bonnie leaned up against the door and felt herself flush a bright probably neon red, quashing the desire to giggle like a schoolgirl Bonnie pushed off the door and flopped down on the couch with a bewildered smile on her face. She couldn't for the life of her think why she'd done that, well okay she could, Bonnie was fairly sure that over the last month she'd developed a little crush on Ron. More than a little crush actually, Bonnie wasn't the type to keep her feelings in for fear of what others would think but that had been unusually bold even for her.

There was no telling how long Bonnie would have stayed there in such an un-Bonnie like moment but crying started coming from Ron's room and Bonnie got up to see what was wrong. Samantha had woken up from her nap and by the smell of things needed a new diaper.

"You stink kiddo," Bonnie picked her up, "I think you could do with a bath before getting a new diaper on you."

Samantha stopped crying as Bonnie picked her up and started with baby speak. Over the last few weeks she had been getting steadily closer and closer to actual words and Bonnie just imagined that the little girl was telling her to get that old diaper changed.

Walking into the bathroom Bonnie turned the water on in the bath, Samantha had more or less mastered sitting up and was plain too big to use the kitchen sink anymore for baths. Bonnie had long ago become used to changing diapers and like Ron had become skilled out of necessity, none of that meant that she had to enjoy changing a diaper and it was with great relish that she dropped the old diaper into the trash. Turning around Bonnie figured she had enough water to work with; she picked up Samantha and slowly lowered her into the tub. Knowing water was something new to play with Samantha started splashing around and Bonnie sent silent thanks heavenwards that she hadn't put on good clothes or any makeup that morning.

"Well you seem to have it all figured out," Bonnie smiled, "since you seem to have all the answers I've got a question for you. What do you think of your dad and me?"

Samantha stopped playing and looked up at Bonnie seeming to almost understand, she made several attempts at what seemed like speech but soon lost interest and went back to splashing about.

Bonnie picked up the bottle of baby shampoo and squirted it into her hand, as she started to work up a lather she mused out loud, "I'd like to think you'd have said go for it but you could have been just saying hurry up and wash you so you can get back to playing."

Then again, Bonnie thought as Samantha tried to squirm away from the shampoo, she might have been trying to say something else entirely.

"I don't know," Bonnie said as she rinsed the shampoo out, "Ron and I get along really well and we've got the whole living together thing down. But does that mean if we tried to see how we work as an us it would work? Living together is an entirely different thing from being together. What if it turns out that Josh got to me more than I thought and as much as I want to I can't trust Ron enough to make a relationship like that work? Or what if Ron isn't as over Kim as he seems, what if he thinks a relationship with me would be somehow betraying her, he'd never do that… You don't have any answers do you?"

Samantha looked up at her with those bright green eyes; Bonnie stared back for awhile but finally turned and grabbed the soap when she heard a word, "mama."

The soap dropped to the ground and Bonnie turned back to Samantha with wide eyes, a smile split Samantha's face and she spoke once again, "mama."

Bonnie very carefully picked Samantha up out of the water, wrapped her in a towel and hugged her, "and now you've had to go and make everything even more complicated."

Standing up Bonnie put a new diaper on Samantha and then a new set of clothes. Walking to the kitchen with Samantha, Bonnie decided to snack on some grapes while she tried to think out where her life was going. She put Samantha into her chair and then walked over to the refrigerator, when she opened it a smell of something rotten wafted out. Bonnie searched around before finding some eggs and ham that had a green fuzzy mold growing on them.

Samantha reached out for the food as Bonnie walked it over to the trash and she couldn't help think of the old children's tale and laugh, "sorry Sam, no green eggs and ham for you, these are dead to me and they're about to be dead to the world."

Bonnie's head snapped up as she tossed the spoiled food into the trash, that was it, picking Samantha up from her chair Bonnie grabbed her travel bag and walked out to her car. She put Samantha into her car seat and backed out of the driveway. Bonnie made her way through the weekend traffic towards the hills east of Go-City and about half an hour later she arrived at Red Oaks Cemetery. Ron had made the trip for Kim's birthday and given her directions in case she had to follow him for something, Bonnie had questioned just what could make her have to follow Ron but now she was glad she remembered the directions.

Finally reaching where she thought she should be, Bonnie pulled the car over and got out. She walked around and got Samantha out too, the little girl looked around curiously, Ron had taken her along when he had last been out here but Bonnie doubted that Samantha remembered anything of that visit. Kim's grave was easy to find and a remarkably simple affair, only her name and the epitaph 'beloved daughter wife and mother,' Bonnie sat down in front of the gravestone and simply stared at it as though somehow it held the answers to her questions.

"Hey K," she said at last, "kinda odd that it's your grave I come and sit in front of when I need to spout off my problems isn't it? And I've got problems, I suppose they're not exactly your fault but they are connected to you. And since you don't have much of a choice but to listen to me here I am…"

**-Meanwhile-**

Ron raised a hand to his cheek as the door closed behind him, he could feel the warmth where Bonnie's lips had made contact and it was a very pleasant sensation indeed. As he walked over to his car Ron could feel his cheeks heat up and he could only imagine how red his face must have been, not to mention he was fairly sure he was sporting a rather dazed look. He was about to open his car door when he saw Mrs. Henderson walking up the street carrying several bags of groceries, Ron did want to get to work as fast as he could but his parents had raised him better than that.

"Let me get those," Ron jogged over and grabbed the bags from his elderly neighbor.

"Thank you Ronald," she said handing the bags over, "so did you finally tell Bonnie you love her?"

"Wha?" Ron stammered and went downright crimson, "I uh, that is to say, well…"

"Oh come off it," Mrs. Henderson scoffed, "you were still blushing from something when you came to take my groceries and the only thing that could make you blush like that is you telling that young woman you're head over heels in love with her."

"Actually Bonnie kissed me," Ron kept blushing, "but it was just on the cheek, and she was just telling me to have a nice day. We're enough of a family that it was inevitable we'd start doing stuff like that so it really doesn't mean anything."

"Well it's about time one of you did something," Mrs. Henderson said in a very certain voice, "that girl is perfect for you you should know. She's enough like Kim that you two have a strong foundation to build off of but different enough that there's no chance you're simply looking for something you lost."

Ron pondered that as Mrs. Henderson took the groceries and walked into her house. Bonnie was indeed quite a bit like Kim, both women were strong willed, intelligent, driven, quite attractive, and a number of other things. There were however some significant differences between the two, Bonnie was more likely to try some of Ron's more 'childish' suggestions than Kim had been. Probably because her parents had kept her from ever trying those things and she had only gotten her first chances after moving in with Ron. Bonnie was also a bit more cynical than Kim, another result of her childhood and something that probably hadn't been helped by Monkey being who Ron had always known him to be. Come to think of it most of the things different in Bonnie than they were in Kim were a result of Bonnie's family being pretty much the opposite of Kim's family.

Ron finally started his car up and backed it out, he was going to be late to work and Bonnie was right, there was no way his employees were going to let him work past six. At least most of his time would be spent in the kitchen, Ron figured he only had about half an hour, maybe forty five minutes of paperwork to do before he could get to what he loved about the restaurant industry. He tried to think about the good things Bonnie had mentioned that would come of having his work week limited. He could certainly do with spending some more time with Samantha, and there were plenty of other things that needed doing around the house, not to mention time to experiment in his kitchen. And there was one thing Bonnie hadn't mentioned that crossed Ron's mind, Bonnie worked less than him and if he was working less then it would mean more time he could spend with her.

That thought was enough to make Ron's cheeks heat up again as he couldn't help think what more time spent between them would mean. Ever since they had fallen asleep in his bed last month they had acted not just as two friends living together but like a real family. Some of those things that normal families did together could really be taken as flirting if it was just two friends doing them and Ron was starting to see them like that. Entering the city streets Ron forced himself to stop thinking about Bonnie and focus on the road, it wouldn't do for Bonnie to get a phone call about his being in some car wreck, and certainly not before he could give her one of the papers on his desk. Ron finally pulled into the parking lot and hopped out of his car, looking down at his watch he let out a sigh, he was almost fifteen minutes late, no way he'd be able to stay until a quarter after six too.

"Hey Mr. S." Ron heard Charlie say, "running a bit late?"

"Yep, I had to help my neighbor with something before I could start over here," Ron turned to see Charlie dumping something into the trash, "say aren't you supposed to be working up front right now?"

"Yeah," Charlie said, "but one of the customers didn't see Mary walking behind him with a tray and scooted his chair out, poor Mary tripped and covered him with three kinds of soup. It didn't help that the guy started yelling at her after that, I calmed her down but she's still convinced you're going to fire her, right now I'm just throwing away a few of the dishes that broke when she tripped."

"Okay," Ron sighed, "did you just leave her up in my office?"

"And that guy's card," Charlie wiped his hands on a towel, "he wanted you to call him when you fired that 'incompetent child.'"

"Well he'll be getting a call," Ron said over his shoulder, "but I don't think it's going to be the one he expected."

Ron walked up to his office, when he opened the door he saw Mary sitting in the chair in front of the desk looking like she was ready to start hyper-ventilating.

"Hi Mr. Stoppable," the young woman stammered, "I guess Charlie told you what happened, I can have my locker cleaned out in fifteen minutes."

Ron motioned for her to stay seated when Mary started getting up, "I guess if you wanted to clean your locker up you could go on break, but why on earth would you want to clean it out?"

Mary looked up at him with wide eyes, "but that man was yelling so loud, and he kept saying how he'd make you fire me and how I'd never work again for spilling that soup on him and how I'm so clumsy, and… and…"

"First off don't start hyper-ventilating," Ron jumped in as Mary paused for breath, "now in case you forgot I make the decisions about who gets fired at my restaurant, not irate and arrogant customers. And unless you're going to tell me that you went out of your way to spill the soup on that guy then my decision is going to be not to fire you."

"No," Mary gasped, "of course I didn't try to spill on him, I was just bringing appetizers to table twenty when he scooted back, I couldn't stop and I just tripped right over him."

"Well then," Ron smiled, "you're not fired. So tell me how this sounds, you head back downstairs and have Charlie give you some tables to finish your shift, I'll call this guy and ignore him while he rants and rails at me for not firing you, and then we'll both be good."

"That's…" Mary had a sort of disbelieving look on her face, "I can't believe… I was so sure you were going to fire me, thank you Mr. Stoppable! I promise it won't happen again."

"It's alright," Ron said, "I'm dreading the day you graduate college since it means I'll have to replace you, you don't want to know how hard that's going to be. But I think as long as we're not making a habit out of spilling food on the customers you've got nothing to worry about."

Mary got up with a huge smile on her face and went back downstairs almost hopping along. Ron sat down at his desk and started filling out all the invoices, notices, approvals, and various other paperwork that came from owning a single restaurant, meaning he had to do twice the paperwork since he'd opened his second restaurant. Finally there was only one piece of paper left, one he had been working towards for nearly a whole month, one day less actually since it was something he'd started on the day after visiting his parents. Said paper was a form to make Bonnie Samantha's legal guardian, more or less legally equal to him. He wasn't worried about anything happening to him but just in case he thought and his and Kim's parents agreed that Bonnie would be the best person to take care of Samantha.

After that Ron walked downstairs and spent the next few hours in the kitchen, this was where he truly wanted to be and it was a rare pleasure that he got to indulge himself in the smells and sensations of preparing food. At about half past five Ron took a quick break to go and grab a glass of water, as he was drinking it down in the break room Charlie walked in and grabbed his lunch out of the refrigerator.

"Lunch break?" Ron said.

"Yeah," Charlie sat down, "it's pretty quiet out front so I figured I could sneak back here for some lunch before the weekend rush finishes off my shift."

"I was just grabbing some water," Ron finished off his glass, "I'll just go up front and cover for you till you guys kick me out of here."

Ron hung up his coat and hat and to Charlie's laughter walked out into the restaurant proper, Charlie was right that it was quiet, Ron only greeted four people in twenty five minutes but he knew from experience that in the next ten or fifteen minutes a two hour line would build up outside the restaurant. With about five minutes to go Ron was starting to get ready to leave, he knelt down to stack some menus when he heard someone speak.

"Excuse me," the voice said, "I'd like a table for two."

Ron stood back up with a pleasant smile on his face but it was replaced with a look of icy anger when he saw who was standing in front of him.

"Hey Ron," Josh Mankey said with a look of surprise on his face, "I didn't know this was your restaurant, how's it been treating you?"

"It's doing great," Ron said in a cold voice he didn't often use, "and instead of asking you how life's been treating you I'll just answer it for you, I know all about Bonnie."

"How's she doing?" Josh's eyes widened slightly in surprise, "I really wasn't expecting her to sign the divorce papers, I was just trying to put some limits on her, I would have been happy to stay married to her if she'd just have been fine with my having Rebecca as a mistress."

"She's doing fine," Ron's voice was grim, "no thanks to you. Now let me ask you a question, can you tell me what the sign on the front of this podium says?"

"Um what sign?" Josh tugged at his collar, "there are lots of signs."

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone," Ron's whole body radiated his inner rage, "and this being my restaurant I'm about to exercise that right."

The woman with Josh, Ron assumed she was Rebecca scowled and looked like she was about to rip into Ron but he turned his glare on her and she gulped in obvious fear.

Josh, knowing what Ron was capable of quickly dragged Rebecca out of the restaurant, Charlie chose that moment to walk up behind Ron with a very curious look on his face.

"Those two," Ron turned to him, "are the exact opposite of the VIP list; I don't care if they have the President, the Pope, and the Queen of England with them they are not eating in this restaurant. Now it's after six and I know if I don't head home you'll all tie me up and toss me out."

Charlie just nodded as Ron walked into the back of the restaurant and grabbed his hat and coat. He sat down in his car and let out a big sigh, he didn't like being all scary like he'd just had to be but all things considered Josh should have been quite glad he ran into Ron in a public place. Ron started up his car and started back, he'd have to tell Bonnie about his little encounter, she'd probably be glad to know that Josh had at least been put partly in his place, it wasn't Ron's fault if the mans place should have been in a small box where people could poke him with a stick all day every day.

It took Ron about half an hour to drive home in the traffic, but eventually he pulled up in front of his house and got out of the car. He walked inside the house and saw Bonnie pacing back and forth with Samantha in one arm and a bottle in the other.

"Hey Bonnie," he said walking up to her. Then on an impulse he quickly pecked her on the cheek, "have a nice day?"

"Yeah," Bonnie stuttered as her face lit up with a blush.

"And how's my little girl?" Ron took Samantha into his arms and held her up.

"She had quite a day," Bonnie sounded normal but her face was still quite red.

"Speaking of quite a day," Ron said as the three walked into the kitchen, "guess who I ran into at work today."

"Felix and Tara?" Bonnie sounded surprised, "I thought you said Felix was going to spring that on Tara as an anniversary gift and theirs isn't till next month."

"Nah," Ron said, "Felix has been keeping quiet and I don't think either of us has said anything."

"My parents didn't stop by did they?" Bonnie sighed from where she was grabbing leftovers out of the refrigerator.

"No," Ron finished strapping Samantha into her high chair, "but close, your jerk of an ex came by with some lady who I'm gonna guess was the one he was cheating on you with, and can I say for the record that Josh has to be pretty stupid to want to cheat on you with her."

Bonnie laughed a little but when she stood up she had a somber look on her face, "Ron you didn't do anything did you? I know how much you wanted to get your hands on him but as much as I'd like to see him in a body cast I'd like to see you in an orange jumpsuit less."

"Don't get me wrong," Ron looked right back, "I was very tempted to make a little trip back into the kitchen and grab some of the big knives but I'd rather not be talking to you and Samantha across a plastic screen for the next twenty to twenty five. I settled for making them flee in terror"

Bonnie sighed in relief and set some Tupperware down on the counter, "speaking of Samantha I have a little something to tell you too."

"Oh," Ron walked over to a cabinet and grabbed out some plates, "and just what did our little Samantha do now?"

"Dada!" Samantha spoke again and Ron looked at her with a stunned smile on his face.

"Well she just picked up her second word," Bonnie smiled, "but earlier today I was giving her a bath and she got number one out."

"That's great!" Ron planted a kiss on Samantha's head and then hugged Bonnie.

"Mama!" Samantha said excitedly.

"I don't know how we've done it," Ron said softly, "but somehow or other we've stumbled our way into being a real family."

"I don't know how we did it either," Bonnie smiled up at him, "but I'm fairly sure it's a good thing."

"Oh it's definitely a good thing," Ron realized he still had his arms around Bonnie but made effort to move them, "and it feels like we're on the edge of something."

"I think I know what you mean," Bonnie's eyes were half closed, "like something's holding us back from that last step."

"Yeah," Ron started unconsciously leaning in, "I just can't put my finger on it."

"It's like I can almost taste it," Bonnie tilted her head up, "but it's not quite there."

They kept leaning in and Ron thought he could feel Bonnie's lips on his when a beeping that he hadn't heard in quite awhile sounded. He and Bonnie jumped back in surprise and their faces sported identical shades of bright red. Ron jogged into his bedroom and dug through his bedside table until he pulled out his old Kimmunicator.

"What's that?" Ron turned to see Bonnie standing in the doorway.

"One last mission," he sighed, "when we hit college Kim and I started slowing down the world saving thing, her little cousin Joss was getting old enough and she'd started up her own operation but someone from our villain list would occasionally pop up and we'd stop them. When we found out Kim was pregnant we promised Dr. Director one more mission and then we'd retire for good and this is it, my car to the airport is already outside waiting."

Ron started packing his bag with an almost frenetic energy, mission clothes, hairdryer grapple, all the essentials for a mission were being flung in at a pace rarely seen by the more laid back member of Team Possible.

"Any reason why you're going so fast?" Bonnie said, and then looking down, "you aren't trying to put any distance between us are you?"

"What?" Ron's head shot up, "no, no! The faster I pack the faster I get to that car, the faster I get to that car the faster I get to the airport, the faster I get to the airport the faster I get this mission done with, and the faster this mission is over the faster I get back and we find out where we were about to go."

Bonnie stared at him for a few seconds and then walked into the room, "anything I can do to get you out of here faster?"

AN: Wow I am a cold hearted and very cruel man to pull that one out on all of you. And you haven't even read the next chapter. But I promise this one has a happy ending when all is said and done. I'd like to thank Pharaoh Rutin Tutin for the green eggs and ham moment inspiration; I hope that was all you thought it'd be even if it is a bit of a small insert. Anywho, I've got a lot of homework to take care of this weekend and next week but I'll still find time to write chapter five and make it hopefully a fantastic chapter because in my little planning notebook it has the potential to be. Ciao all till next Friday.


	5. Dreams and the Future

Second Chances

Disclaimer: Bad news, I just found out I don't own Kim Possible

Chapter Five: Dreams and the Future

**-One Week Later-**

Bonnie perused the aisles of the DVD store just up the street from the Nakasumi Corp. offices; her dilemma was simple yet incredibly complex. In one of her hands she had Super Monster Mutant Exploding Freaks Eight, and in the other she had Sappy Love Movie Three. When Ron had left for his mission Bonnie had felt like an action flick, hence the former, but now she felt like something a bit more chick flicky, and Bonnie also had to consider the mood she wanted to have going when Ron came back. Super Monster Mutant Exploding Freaks Eight would say on the one hand that she was thinking about what he would like most; on the other hand Sappy Love Movie Three would state 'romance' as the theme of the night.

Yes Bonnie Rockwaller was planning one heck of a welcome home for her housemate, one that she hoped would end with them not necessarily in the same bed, but snuggled up together on the couch would work just as well. Bonnie could barely hold in a giggle at the thought that she was planning a night with Ron Stoppable that stopped just short of outright seduction, the last time she'd seen the blonde before moving in with him the idea might have made her physically ill. But times changed and here she was holding two movies trying to decide which would be better to set a mood for what she hoped would be lengthy make out sessions. Of course she could simply get both movies since they were both week long rentals, but if she got them both she'd be agonizing over this decision at home and she wanted to be able to spend all her time there getting ready to knock Ron off his feet, and then preferably dive onto him.

Bonnie chose Sappy Love Movie Three in the end; after all she intended to show Ron that she was thinking about him plenty by the end of the night. She still had to go home and set the table for a nice dinner for two, of course barring having to take care of Samantha. And she also had to change out of her work clothes into something a little more comfortable, she probably would have never bought the dress if she wasn't planning exactly what she was and it was unlikely at best that she would ever wear the dress out in public. But as much as it had cost Bonnie was confident it would end up worth every penny when Ron's jaw hit the floor.

The sky was gray and drizzling as Bonnie drove home, but for all she cared it could have been blue with birds chirping, Bonnie Rockwaller had a plan and she was going to stick to it rain or shine. She pulled her car into the driveway and under her umbrella walked over to pick up Samantha from Mrs. Henderson, the little girl was quite happy to see her and after some good natured chiding from her elderly neighbor Bonnie made the short walk home.

Once inside Bonnie put Samantha down in her little playpen and then walked into the rarely used dining room. She dropped the flowers she'd picked up earlier into the vase at the center of the table and then pulled out some candles from the cabinet stand to the side of the room. Of course Bonnie wasn't going to cook the dinner, sure she could cook but Ron had promised before leaving that he would whip them up a true feast to celebrate his retirement from the hero business and Bonnie planned on enjoying that.

Walking into her bedroom Bonnie pulled a dark red dress out of her armoire and tossed it on the bed; she pulled out the heels she was going to wear with it and then picked up the dress to look at herself in the mirror. It showed more leg and exposed more cleavage than anything she'd worn since before marrying Josh but she hadn't really wanted to look sexy for anyone since then.

A knock sounded at the door and Bonnie sighed, Ron had better not have come back early as a surprise, Bonnie was picking him up from the airport but she wanted the mood of the house when they got back to be one that would start them on the right track. As she walked to the door Samantha hauled herself to her feet at the side of her playpen and smiled at Bonnie, Bonnie smiled back as long as she could but when she reached the door she turned her attention to whoever was on the other side.

Bonnie opened the door and felt her stomach drop into her feet and all the blood in her face rush along after it, Dr. Director was standing there in a long black trench coat and the look on her face said everything that needed to be said.

"Ms. Rockwaller… Bonnie, I'm sorry to have to say this," Dr. Director's voice was shaky, "Ron's plane exploded in mid-air, we think it was one of Duff Killigan's henchmen who planted the bomb, probably to try and ransom his release, but something went wrong. I know it's not much but Ron made a video on his flight out to the Amazon just incase something happened to him."

Dr. Director handed her a DVD case, "Thanks," Bonnie swallowed back her tears, "was there anything else?"

"No," Dr. Director said sadly, "just that I'm so sorry this happened. We'd been keeping some tabs on Ron and we could see how happy he was with you in his life. This was supposed to be an easy and simple mission to clear up any obligations he thought he might have to us. I'd just like you to know that if there's anything we can do for you or your daughter please don't hesitate to ask. Will you be alright on your own or should I have someone stay to help you out?"

Bonnie wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed and cry but she managed to pull herself together, "I'm… well I'm not alright, but I'll pull through. I think taking care of Samantha will keep me going long enough to get over the initial shock, at least until I can call Ron and Kim's parents and figure out what they want for her."

"I think Ron said something about her in his video," Dr. Director mustered a weak smile, "it would probably be best if I left now, you need some time to watch that video and have a good cry."

Bonnie shut the door as Dr. Director turned around and started walking away. She wanted nothing more than to sink to the ground and cry until she had no more tears but she couldn't, she still had to be strong for Samantha. Bonnie walked over to Samantha's playpen; the little girl had no clue of what had just happened, that in the space of less than a year she had lost both her parents. Picking Samantha up Bonnie walked over to the television and put the DVD in, then she walked over to the couch and sat down hugging Samantha to her as it started to play."

"Hey Bonnie," Ron's image appeared on the screen and Samantha reached out to it, "wow no matter how many times I have to make one of these I never get used to it. Last one though, someday I'm gonna pull all my old ones out of wherever they put these things and we can have hours of fun watching them. But I guess to get serious if you're watching this before I'm back and can laugh with you about this then something's happened to me. Geeze that would have to suck, this sounds like a really easy mission too, just stop Duff Killigan from getting some plant. I mean this is how unconcerned about this I am, I'm just gonna go in there, beat up that burly old Scotsman and then come home to you and Samantha."

Bonnie choked back a sob at that, Ron had stopped Duff Killigan and from the sound of things he had done it quite easily, he wasn't supposed to be taken from her on the way back when he was concentrating on what he would do with his life finally being free from the hero business.

"Anyways," Ron's picture went on, "I'm getting off topic, this is supposed to be if something happened to me, now game face Stoppable get serious. Right, if you're seeing this before I'm back home then it means I'm dead or something almost as bad. I guess the first thing is to ask you to not get mad at Dr. Director or anyone else, I knew the risks when I signed on, I certainly didn't expect this but I knew it was a possibility. I know you don't get along with your family too well Bonnie, but if you need a shoulder to cry on right now I guarantee you my parents won't hesitate to let you use theirs. I guess I need to talk about my will and all that, it's pretty simple actually. I'm leaving just about everything to you, there's a few mementos I'm giving to my parents and the Possibles because I really don't think you'd even want them. But if you'd like to keep my first Naco wrapper then you're welcome to talk to my parents about it. The rest of it though the house, everything in it, my car, all my bank accounts, except what I've set aside for Samantha to go to college, it's all yours. And Samantha, I talked to my parents and Kim's parents about it when we were in Middleton and they agree with me that if something happened you'd be the best person to take care of her."

Bonnie gasped and looked down at Samantha, Ron had made sure that she would really be _her_ daughter, Bonnie would be mom from now on for real. But dad wouldn't be there to see their little girl grow up. And Bonnie wasn't going to get to wear that sexy dress, or have that nice dinner with Ron, or snuggle up with him on the couch, or tell him how she felt about him. Hugging Samantha to her Bonnie let her tears start rolling down her face once again.

"I guess the only thing left is my last words to everyone," Ron sighed, "Mom, Dad, Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P. it's been one of the best things that's ever happened to me to have not one but two sets of incredible parents. I know there were moments where I really wasn't the best kid ever but you guys stuck with me as much as anyone and I guess one of my few regrets if I'm gone is that I didn't get to say thanks to all of you one more time. Samantha, if I'm actually dead then you were far too young to remember anything about me, but you're in the best hands I can imagine with Bonnie and I know that the only person who loves you more on this planet than her was me and probably not by much. One of my two biggest regrets would be not getting to spend more time with you but wherever I am I'm still watching over you and whatever you do in life I'll be incredibly proud of you. Bonnie, my other biggest regret would definitely be getting so little time with you, these last words things are really hard since I know I'm not actually dying right now but if I only had time to say one thing to you there's no doubt in my mind that I'd say this…"

**-That Night-**

"Of course Madam Speaker," Bonnie said into the phone, "I appreciate your call and if there's anything I need you'll be the first to know."

Bonnie put the phone down and sighed in relief, she had finally finished all the dignitaries and self important bloviators… for the day. The Speaker of the House, the Governor, the President of the United States, the list just went on and on and Bonnie could easily understand how frustrated Ron must have been after Kim died. All sorts of people calling to expound on Ron's heroics and qualities as a man, rather nice except most of them had never met him more than once or twice if even that. Her only real comfort was that Felix and Tara had dropped by a few hours ago to see how she was doing; Felix had brought some roses that Ron had wanted him to smuggle into the house while Bonnie was out picking up Ron.

Kim and Ron's parents had also called and been nothing but kind and caring to her not blaming her for anything in the least. They would be flying out tomorrow to discuss what sort of memorial there would be for Ron since the where the wreckage of the plane had come down was nearly inaccessible and in any case it wasn't thought there would be a body to recover if anyone could get to the site. Also they along with Bonnie would be going to the formal reading of Ron's will, the contents of which they already knew, and there Bonnie would legally adopt Samantha as her daughter.

After that though Bonnie had no clue what she was going to do. Work wasn't really an issue since Mr. Nakasumi himself, being a personal friend of Ron's, had called her and promised as much time off from work as she needed and that thereafter the company would do whatever was necessary to fit work around her newfound status as a single parent. Unfortunately her parents had also called and despite Bonnie's hopes that they could for once in their lives have a civil conversation it had taken her parents barely five minutes to make a snide remark about Ron that had Bonnie giving them a verbal lashing that if she had been even the slightest bit less enraged would have had her blushing crimson for speaking the words she did.

And then there was Samantha, she was a very smart baby and knew that something was wrong with Bonnie and as much as someone not quite ten months old could express it she showed concern. But Samantha wasn't even a year old, she hadn't the slightest idea what death was much less that it had just taken her dad away from her. Or for that matter that it had not so long ago stolen her birth mother away from her as well. Bonnie had never been that religious of a person, sure she was raised a Christian and all but the stuffy atmosphere of her parents church had led her to rebel and develop a very liberal theological bent. But regardless of that Bonnie prayed as hard as she could that no more tragedy would come down on Samantha, losing your parents wasn't something that should happen to anyone until they were starting to think about their own funeral, certainly not to someone who was thinking about their first birthday.

Bonnie walked into Ron's room and saw Samantha sound asleep in her crib, Bonnie had only put her to bed some fifteen minutes ago, the days of her falling asleep so fast would soon be long past, as would the days of her being able to fit in a crib. Ron and her had started to discuss both of those things; the falling asleep thing they could deal with since it would mean more nights Samantha would sleep through the night. Space though was another problem, the crib in Ron's room was not only possible but necessary, a bed though would be another problem, their upstairs would serve for awhile but soon as Samantha started to grow up a new house would be needed, the idea that Bonnie might look for her own place was never even brought up. But now that was all up to her and her alone, Bonnie walked over to Ron's bed and flopped down onto it. The sheets hadn't been washed in a few weeks and Bonnie could easily pick up Ron's scent on the pillows, she grabbed one and curled up with it like a teddy bear as she started to cry again, the tears kept flowing and in the end Bonnie cried herself to sleep.

"Hi Bonnie," the voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

"Um hello?" Bonnie said cautiously as she looked around, she was in what seemed to be a room but it was filled with a fuzzy white light and seemed to go on forever.

"It's been awhile hasn't it Bonnie?" Bonnie turned around to see Kim Possible right behind her, the redhead was somehow floating and seemed clothed in the light that pervaded the room.

"Just great," Bonnie rubbed her temples, "I go crazy and delusional and it has to be you who comes to torment me in my dementia."

"I'm not here to torment you," Kim floated so she was once again in front of Bonnie, "not unless you really want me to. I'm here to talk to you, I've got a few things you might want to hear."

"Like I said, you're here to torment me," Bonnie sighed, "and you have to be some delusion of mine Kim Possible is dead."

"I resent that," Kim sounded just like the real one, "I'm dead as you understand it but what you consider death is far from the end of life, just the chapter you can see. And like I said I can see things in the bigger picture and I think I've got a few things to say you'll want to listen to."

"But it's… impossible," Bonnie stared at what she was really starting to think was Kim, "I was standing in front of Kim's grave a week ago."

"Actually…" Kim smiled, "it's possible, Kim Possible, well actually it was Kim Stoppable but the witty remark just doesn't work with that. And I know you were in front of my grave last week, for the record I could have ignored you if I wanted but since it's part of my job I did listen to you, probably helped you had Samantha with you."

"Kim?" Bonnie said with wide eyes, "it really is you, but how, I mean you're dead. And unless I'm dead too you shouldn't be able to talk to me."

"Well I am dead," Kim took on a lecturing tone, "but like I said death as you understand it isn't the end. There's a whole lot after the light at the end of the tunnel, I can't tell you much about it except that it's absolutely fantastic. Anyways though, after I died I didn't give up the hero thing quite yet. You see people who die can still look out for the ones they love in my case I decided to take that up with Ron and Samantha, more or less a guardian angel, and since you came along I've been looking out for you after all Ron loves you and that's good enough for me."

Bonnie blushed at that remembering the last words Ron had left her, "but why now? I mean hopefully you're here to tell me that Samantha isn't going to have anything else like you and Ron happen to her but I don't think that's what you're here for and not to insult your job performance or anything but why visit me after the fact."

Kim floated very near to Bonnie and whispered three words in her ear that stopped her heart for a moment, "Ron's not dead."

"What?" Bonnie stumbled back in shock, "but the plane exploded, there's no way he could have survived that."

"Well I think I'll leave how he survived for Ron to tell you," Kim's smile really seemed angelic, "but I have to admit that I'm proud of how I kept him alive, and I don't admit to being proud of anything very often."

"Oh my God," Bonnie gasped, "then all his will, and Samantha, they shouldn't be mine. Ron's her dad and I shouldn't be trying to be mom if he's out there trying to get back."

"Bonnie," Kim floated back over to her, "you of all people should know that just because you're someone's mother doesn't make you mom. And you should also know that just because you're not someone's mother doesn't mean you can't be mom. I would have loved Samantha and I do, but I can't be with her. You first held her when she was barely a month old, you've changed all the diapers and fed her at all hours of the night, you were her first word, believe me you're mom. And as your guardian angel a piece of advice, when Ron gets back tell him that you love him too, you two have danced around that for too long and this if anything should teach you that it can all be taken from you in a second."

"Oh I will," Bonnie smiled, "but I've got so much to ask you right now, I don't know where to start."

"I'm afraid there's no more asking," Kim smiled back, "I'm only supposed to talk to you under very specific circumstances and then not for very long and I'm pushing it already. But just remember that Ron's alive and he's not going to stop at anything to get back to you. Now I think it's time for you to wake up."

Bonnie shot up in Ron's bed, Samantha was crying, she walked over to her little girl and picked her up, guessing she was hungry Bonnie started walking towards the kitchen. She could still feel the sadness of yesterday but her conversation with Kim had given her something she realized thinking Ron was dead had taken from her, hope.

**-One Year Later-**

Bonnie muttered a few choice words into her pillow as her phone went off, between the first and second rings Bonnie pried open her eyes, who on earth could be calling her at six fifteen in the morning? It couldn't be anyone from the office, even the total morning people wouldn't be in until seven. Bonnie rolled over and grabbed the phone with no small amount of trepidation, the only reason someone would call her at this ungodly hour was if something horrible had happened to someone she knew.

"Hello?" Bonnie mustered as much concern as she could in her tired state.

"Hey Bonnie," the voice on the other end sounded entirely too chipper for anyone to be dead.

"Who is this?" Bonnie had no problem whatsoever sounding uppity.

"I'm wounded Bon-Bon," the voice mocked sadness, "I didn't think you'd forget my voice so soon."

Bonnie gasped at 'Bon-Bon,' there were only two people who had ever called her that and the person calling was definitely not her mother, "Ron?" She said softly, "is that you?"

"Yep," Bonnie could imagine Ron's smile, "alive, well, and just landed at Go-City airport."

"Oh God," Bonnie sat up in her bed, "hang on, I'll be right there, I just need to throw on some shoes and… oh God I can't believe this is happening."

"Hang on there Bonnie," Ron chuckled, "I've got a ride from the airport back home, you just sit back, relax, and wait for me to show up."

"Okay," Bonnie took a calming breath, "how long until you're home?"

There was a brief pause, "according to the driver about twenty five, maybe thirty minutes."

"Alright," Bonnie said, "I'll be here."

Ron said goodbye and hung up his phone, Bonnie sat in bed cradling her own phone for a few seconds before she leapt out of bed with energy she never thought she'd possess so early in the morning. Not even bothering to throw on slippers or Ron's old robe Bonnie bolted down to the guest room and threw the door open knocking as she went. Kim's parents were in Go-City for a convention on psychology and long term space travel, they had of course called Bonnie prior to coming out and rather than staying in a hotel Bonnie had talked them into simply using the guest room, herself having long ago moved into the master bedroom.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Bonnie shouted as she stopped at the foot of the bed.

"What, what's going on?" Came the groggy reply from Kim's mom.

"Ron," Bonnie said excitedly, "I just talked to Ron."

"Bonnie," Kim's mom sat up slowly, "we're all still sad over what happened to Ron but you need to accept that he's gone."

"No," Bonnie shook her head, "not like that. Ron just called on the phone, he's alive and he landed at the airport a few minutes ago."

Kim's dad sat up too as both their eyes went wide and Mrs. Possible started stuttering, "And he just called and he's on his way here?"

"Did he say when he would get here?" Kim's dad had come fully awake in a handful of seconds.

"He said twenty five or thirty minutes," Bonnie said, "but knowing traffic this early and how fast Ron's going to want that car to go probably less than twenty, maybe fifteen minutes for all the time we've spent talking."

Kim's parents flew out of bed almost as fast as Bonnie had, they ran to both of the bathrooms in the townhouse to try showering and throwing on some clothes before Ron got back. Bonnie bounded upstairs to what had become Samantha's room, just shy of two years old Samantha thought she was quite responsible enough to have her own room away from her mom's, and after slipping in a baby monitor Bonnie had decided to try the upstairs idea rather than emptying the guest room.

"Rise and shine little lady," Bonnie walked into the room and scooped Samantha up into her arms.

"Mommy?" Samantha said sleepily.

Bonnie smiled down at her little girl, "Daddy's coming home, and we need to get you up and ready."

Samantha's eyes brightened, being a smart little girl she had questioned just where her dad was and though Bonnie had explained it as best she could to someone not yet two years old, it was obvious that Samantha missed her father.

Bonnie walked back down at a slightly slower pace and got down just to see Kim's dad coming out of the bathroom dressed and showered but obviously hastily. Wasting no time Bonnie walked into the bathroom, she only had time for a quick rinse and time to throw on some clothes if she was going to have any hope of not meeting Ron looking like she had just rolled out of bed. However even that wasn't enough as a horn sounded outside just as Bonnie finished getting Samantha dressed.

"That can't be Ron!" Bonnie shouted as she ran out of the bathroom, "I'm not ready yet."

"I think it is," Kim's dad peeked out around the drapes, "but something tells me he won't care what you look like when he sees you."

"Go on," Kim's mom walked into the room holding Samantha, "you've waited long enough for this."

Outside Ron slowly opened the car door, it had taken him a year to get back home and he could barely breathe for the excitement of seeing Bonnie and Samantha for the first time in as long. The door opened up and in the opening Bonnie stood looking back at him. Her hair was a complete mess, she looked like she had just rolled out of bed, and she was wearing old threadbare flannel pajamas, she was absolutely gorgeous. They both started running towards each other at the same time and when they met in the middle of the drive Bonnie jumped up and wrapped her legs around Ron as they stood there finally kissing.

"You're late," Bonnie said as they pulled apart and rested their foreheads together.

"Just by a little," Ron found himself drowning in Bonnie's eyes, "you still have those DVD's ready to watch?"

"No silly," Bonnie laughed as she dropped to her feet, "but I think I've got better."

Ron looked around her head to see Kim's parents standing in the doorway with smiles on their faces and in Mrs. Dr. P's. arms was his little, though less little than he remembered, girl. Ron and Bonnie walked hand in hand up to the door and Bonnie took Samantha as the Possibles wrapped Ron up in a big family hug.

"Is that daddy?" Bonnie looked down and saw Samantha looking up at her.

"Yes," Bonnie smiled, "yes it is."

Ron let go of the Possibles and turned to Bonnie who was holding Samantha, she looked at him with mild suspicion, obviously not remembering him at all, but with some encouragement from Bonnie she reached out to Ron and with that innocence only a child can possess Samantha Stoppable found her father once again.

The newly reunited family walked back inside smiles all around and Ron looked around, "man it is so good to be home, I thought I'd never get out of that jungle."

"I know you're probably going to hear this a million times over the next few weeks," Mrs. Dr. P. took a seat on the couch, "but how on earth did you survive that crash, much less get out of the Amazon Rainforest alive?"

"Well the whole story would take a year to tell," Ron held on to Samantha as he sat next to Bonnie, "but the short of it is that I was on the plane and we'd taken off. Once the seat belt sign was off I got up and started walking, I noticed they had a type of parachute I'd never seen so not like I thought I was going to need it or anything but I asked the co-pilot to just help me get used to it. And as I finish putting this thing on and I'm trying to get used to how it feels the plane exploded, someone had to be watching out for me because I was thrown clear of the plane in the blast and from thirty thousand feet I had plenty of time to clear my head and pull my parachute. Getting down from the trees was an adventure but once I did I started trying to find my way to civilization, it just took me so long because once I did I found out that I'd come down in about the most remote region of the forest. But a few days ago I walked right into this logging camp and the board just happened to be visiting, one of them recognized me and before the day was out I was on their plane back here."

"I'm impressed Ronald," Mr. Dr. P. said, "I just wish we could stay longer and really fill you in on what you've missed, but I guess Bonnie will have to do that."

"Oh come on," Ron scoffed, "it shouldn't be that hard to change flights back to Middleton, I'm back in my kitchen and one of the first things I want to do is use it, I guarantee you the greatest dinner you've ever had."

"I'm afraid we'll have to take a rain check on that," Mr. Dr. P. smiled, "Jim is getting married in about two weeks and we have to be back in Middleton tonight for the last rehearsal dinner."

"Well maybe not the last," Mrs. Dr. P. said idly, "Jim did say that he would have loved to have you there and I'm sure he and his fiancé would be happy to push the wedding back to give you enough time to do whatever you need to do to come."

The morning went on like that, Ron catching up with the year he had missed and of course spending as much time around Bonnie as he could. After lunch the Possibles hired a cab to take them to the airport rather than make Ron and Bonnie separate long enough for one of them to make the drive. Ron set to making his 'greatest dinner ever' and Bonnie was perfectly happy to spend the day she had taken off from work with him and Samantha just getting to know each other again. With of course numerous breaks for making out.

Ron and Bonnie managed to finish off two bottles of champagne over dinner and by the time they tucked Samantha into bed they were pleasantly drunk. Staggering back down the stairs they flopped onto the couch in a fit of giggles at how silly they looked.

"I just realized something," Ron slurred, "You stole my bedroom."

"You weren't using it," Bonnie's eyes were a bit glazed over, "so I just decided to not let it go to waste."

"Well I want it back," Ron's gaze was more a leer, "as soon as I get up I'll race you for it."

"But I'm going to come after you," Bonnie sounded serious as only a drunk person could, "what are we going to do once we're both in there."

"Well," Ron's eyes lidded over, "I really do want to thank you for everything you've done and I've got a few ideas how I can show you after the baby goes to sleep."

"The baby is asleep," Bonnie's voice had suddenly turned very husky.

"Well then," Ron leaned in, "I guess I'll show you right now if you want me to."

Bonnie did indeed want Ron to show her just how he wanted to thank her and drunk or not both of them had quite a good idea of what was coming as they staggered into the bedroom.

As they staggered Bonnie accidentally hit a button on the remote and the TV flashed to life, on it was a DVD that Bonnie had watched many times in the last year, in particular the end. The door closed without either of them noticing the TV and the last scene played, "…if I only had time to say one thing to you there's no doubt in my mind that I'd say this… Bonnie, I love you."

AN: Like Kim said, I rarely admit to being truly proud of something but I will admit to being downright proud of this chapter. This was another one of those ones where as much as I can normally detach myself from my characters I was still feeling pretty down at the start of the chapter, and I knew how it ended. I've still got a few more things to throw into this story, some funny and some less funny, but don't think that this is the end, it's just the halfway point. Whether or not that really was Kim, I tried to write it so you can think either way, and there is no right answer but I'd like to think it was her. Anyways, my law school applications are out and homework should die down for the next few weeks till midterms so expect healthy industry performance on future chapters. Ciao till next Friday all.


	6. Domestic Bliss

Second Chances

Disclaimer: If wishes were horses I'd have a horse named I wish I own Kim Possible

Chapter Six: Domestic Bliss

**-The Next Day-**

Ron came awake before his eyes opened, the first sensation he felt was that of a headache. That in and of itself was nothing new to Ron, making his way through the jungle he had to eat all sorts of things that ended up giving him a headache the next day, and the isolated tribes he'd come across had drinks that made whiskey seem tame. What was odd to Ron was that what he had woken up on was very soft, even the softest surfaces the tribes he'd come across had were still little better than the ground. And what really had him going was that there was something very soft and definitely very feminine pressed up against him, he should have had much more of a headache if he'd gotten drunk enough to succumb to the charms of a village girl rather than keep his promise to himself that he'd resist any advances till he got back to Bonnie and figured out what exactly there was between them.

Ron slowly pried his eyes open, ready to start the awkward process of prying himself away from the girl and trying to explain his way out of this latest village before he could continue on his trek hopefully out of the Amazon and back to Bonnie and Samantha. However when he opened his eyes he was treated to quite a surprise, lightly tanned skin, soft brown hair, and this was not the inside of some village hut. It looked like his room in Go-City, and the person cuddled up against him bore a remarkable resistance to Bonnie. Then everything came back to him, stumbling into that logger's camp, the flight home, running towards Bonnie on the front lawn, the Dr's. P., and then that nice dinner, some champagne, and everything he and Bonnie had done after stumbling into the bedroom.

Last night they had certainly answered the question of if there was anything between them, several times if memory served. Ron probably would have preferred them to talk a few things over first but as far as his welcome home went he had no real complaints, particularly about that last part. Bonnie was certainly enthusiastic in bed and Ron had had no problems rising to the occasion and keeping pace with her till exhaustion had overcome them in what he guessed were the early hours of the morning.

Placing a kiss on Bonnie's bare shoulder Ron made to get up, only to find his left half pinned down. Slowly, so as not to wake her up, Ron pulled his arm and leg out from under Bonnie. Once free he rolled out of the bed and walked over to the closet. Before getting drunk he and Bonnie had moved some of his clothes back into the room, why she hadn't donated them to charity after hearing of his demise was beyond him. Putting the thought aside Ron pulled out some old pajama bottoms and walked into the bathroom. It was a good thing he wasn't too particularly hung over, services at the altar of the porcelain gods wouldn't be a good way to start his first morning back home.

After using the toilet and a quick rise with some mouthwash Ron walked out past where Bonnie looked to just be stirring. Her eyes opened and as their eyes locked he smiled at her and pointed upwards before walking out of the bedroom and up to Samantha's room. Ron quietly opened the door to where the morning light would enable him to see into the room but not hit Samantha's eyes and wake her up. There had been one thing that had kept Ron going over the course of a year of being stuck in the jungle, and that was to see Bonnie and Samantha. Now that he was back it was still a bit hard to believe that this wasn't all just some dream and that he wasn't going to wake up any minute and find himself back in that bug infested cesspit.

A pair of arms wrapped around him as he watched his little girl sleep and Ron looked back to see Bonnie watching on, she was wearing one of his old hockey jerseys and Ron thought it looked quite good on her.

"Come on," Bonnie whispered, "she's finally sleeping through the night and I'd rather not have her wake up."

Silently Ron closed the door and followed Bonnie downstairs all the while appreciating how long her legs seemed in just his shirt. They walked into the kitchen and as Ron grabbed some waffles Bonnie reached into one of the cabinets and grabbed out some cups. Ron of course took the opportunity to ogle the larger expanse of leg her reaching up revealed.

"Like something you see?" Bonnie's smile over her shoulder made Ron blush.

"Plenty I like," Ron smirked, "but as much as I'd like to head right back into that bedroom and pick up where we left off last night I'd rather not take the chance. I wasn't using any sort of protection and something tells me that after a year of thinking I was dead you weren't on the pill."

"I guess you're right," Bonnie sighed, "we shouldn't have anything to worry about from last night. But I guess before we do something like that again I'll need to set up an appointment with my doctor and get myself started on the pill."

"I suppose I really should say I'm sorry," Ron put a few waffles into the toaster," this should have been us almost a year ago."

Bonnie put the cups down, walked over to Ron and kissed him, when she pulled away she looked him right in the eye, "I'm more than fine with having to start now if it means we get to have the chance at all."

"Okay you've got a point there," Ron pulled Bonnie to him, "but I guess even though it's a year late we still need to figure out where we go from here."

"Well," Bonnie smiled up at him, "after breakfast you should head over to your restaurant, I bet everyone there misses you, then I'll meet you there and we can head over to the courthouse and fill out all the paperwork to bring you back to life. Where we go from here as us… has anything changed from your 'last words' to me?"

"Nope," Ron blushed furiously, "definitely nothing's changed."

"Good," Bonnie ducked out of his arms and smiled flirtatiously, "because I feel the same."

"That's good," Ron stammered, "so you uh watched the video then?"

"I had to watch it twice," Bonnie's flirty attitude vanished, "the first time I was still in so much shock that I barely heard anything in it. The second time I didn't know if I should laugh or cry after seeing it and I told myself that if I ever saw you again I'd hit you good for making me wait until after I thought you were dead to tell me you loved me. Of course it turns out that when I actually saw you again I did just about the opposite."

"I'm glad you didn't hit me either," Ron smiled, "those nail marks down my back are going to hurt plenty enough as it is."

"Sorry about that," Bonnie went crimson, "would you like me to go get something to rub on them?"

"No," Ron turned red at the mental pictures, "I'd have to go lie down, and you'd have to get on top of me to rub it in, and we said no more of that till we've got protection."

"Damn," Bonnie muttered under her breath, "ok finish up breakfast in here would you? I'm going to go grab the phone and make an appointment with my doctor; she'd better have an opening this afternoon."

Ron laughed a bit as Bonnie walked out of the kitchen, it seemed like she wanted to make up for a missed year of them quite badly and Ron for his part didn't think he'd have any problems keeping up with her. He pulled the waffles out of the toaster, put them on two plates and put those down on the table. Then he grabbed the cups Bonnie had left, filled them with orange juice and put them down by the plates. Ron busied himself for a few minutes putting away all the dishes from dinner last night and by the time he was done Bonnie walked back into the kitchen with a smug look on her face.

"I'm going into the doctors at three," Bonnie smirked, "and you're stopping at the drug store on our way back this afternoon so we're not going to miss a single night of catching up."

"No complaints here," Ron said as they sat down, "I'm just not sure Samantha needs any younger brothers or sisters, I got home yesterday and I'm not ready to start looking for a new house next week."

Bonnie laughed at that as they started munching away on their waffles. Ron snuck a few looks at Bonnie while he thought she wasn't looking, it felt like they hadn't at all lost their living together as housemates stride and though it was still early to see how they'd turn out as a couple Ron was willing to bet they'd work at least as well as they did at being housemates. Add that to the fact that before he'd gone missing they'd had a year of living together and raising a child under their belts and there was only one logical step left for their relationship to take. Thankfully Ron thought, he had only gotten back to Go-City yesterday and he'd have a grace period before Bonnie might start expecting him to act on that and before he himself would reach a point where he could no longer put such thoughts out of his mind.

They finished eating breakfast and after turning off the TV, which had somehow been on all night, Bonnie walked over towards the stairs and motioned for Ron to follow her.

"I'm sure you'd love to go wake Samantha up," Bonnie said at the top of the stairs, "but she's probably not used to you yet and it would be best for the first few days if I'm there to get her up and then hand her off to you, try to build up her trust of you after a year without her dad around."

"I hate to admit it but you're right." Ron sighed, "You're sure that she'll be fine with me once you hand her off though?"

"Of course," Bonnie smiled, "she's already a real people person. You take her, get her all ready to go out while I take a shower and get myself ready, then I'll take care of breakfast and you can get yourself ready. Then we figure out just where we're going today and we go from there."

"Okay," Ron whispered as they opened the door, "sounds like a plan."

**-Later On-**

Ron got out of his car and stared up at his restaurant, it had felt weird at first being behind the wheel of a car again after so long but he hadn't truly forgotten how to drive and he knew the route to his restaurant so well that if there was anywhere he could drive after being away from technology for a year it was here. Bonnie pulled her car into the spot next to his and got out, Ron walked over and pulled Samantha out of the back of her car. As quickly as Ron had gotten used to driving again they had still both felt better putting her in the back of Bonnie's car.

"So you didn't sell this place off?" Ron looked back and forth between the restaurant and Bonnie.

"Nope," Bonnie said, "I thought about it for the first few weeks but something always kept telling me not to sell it and so I said no to all the offers and never put it on the market."

Ron leaned over and kissed Bonnie as a way of thanks and she had a rather self satisfied smile on her face as he took her hand and they walked in the back entrance of Chez Ron. There was no one in the backroom where all the employees hung up their coats but the noises and smells from the rest of the restaurant told Ron it was a normal busy day. Ron handed Samantha to Bonnie and slowly walked around the room trying to reabsorb the feel of his restaurant.

Ron poked his head into the kitchen and saw everything bustling about as smoothly as he'd left it a year ago. The door from the eating section opened and Ron saw a familiar waitress walk up to a table with an empty tray and set it down. Ron looked back at Bonnie and saw an identical smile to his own on her face. Ron slowly crept up behind Mary and as he had done many times before as a form of greeting poked her in the sides of her back.

"Eek!" she jumped what must have been six inches in the air before turning around and sprouting a look of utter disbelief, "Mr. Stoppable?"

"Yep," Ron smiled, "the reports of my death are all greatly exaggerated. But didn't you graduate at the end of last summer?"

"Graduate school sir," the whole kitchen had gone quiet staring at their till very recently deceased boss, "it's very expensive."

"Well if graduate school means keeping you around this place any chance I can talk you into going for your doctorate right after this?" Then Ron looked up and waved to everyone in the kitchen, "oh hi everyone!"

All the employees waved back with nearly identical looks of stunned disbelief on their faces at seeing their boss walk into the kitchen alive and well a year after disappearing and being presumed dead in an exploding plane. At that point Bonnie walked into the kitchen with Samantha toddling beside her, having had her whole experience of dealing with Ron being alive the day before she was the obvious choice to speed Ron's employees through their own process.

"Yes," Bonnie held up a hand for attention, "Ron is alive. He survived that plane crash and then spent a year getting out of the Amazon. We've already stopped by the courthouse and done all the paperwork to bring Ron back to life so that means this is _his_ restaurant again, but I guarantee you his skills in the kitchen are as honed as ever so nothing to worry about except what worried you about Ron before."

"Hey I resent that, there's absolutely nothing anyone needs to worry abou… whoa!" Ron slipped on a wet spot on the floor and laid out flat on his back. He laid there for a few seconds before sticking a thumb up, "I'm alright! Just a wet floor, by the way can someone get a sign there so no one else does this? And I guess I'm gonna head up front and see how everyone out there is doing."

Bonnie laughed and walked over to help him back to his feet. Then they quietly walked out of the kitchen and into the front part of the restaurant, a dead man walking though a restaurant got any number of looks but they made it up to the entrance without incident and Ron tapped Charlie on the shoulder.

Charlie turned around and his eyes went as wide as saucers in surprise, "Mr. S, is that you?"

"Yep," Ron smiled, "how's it going?"

"Great," Charlie stuttered, "but aren't you…."

"Dead?" Ron quirked an eyebrow, "well as it turns out I survived that plane exploding and it took awhile but here I am alive and well."

Charlie laughed a deep belly laugh and then grabbed Ron up into a great big bear hug. At five feet ten Ron was not a small man, but against Charlie's six and a half feet Ron was picked up like a rag doll.

"That's great," Charlie kept laughing, "everyone here missed you so much, I can barely believe you're back."

"I'm glad to be back too," Ron gasped as his ribs compressed, "but uh I can't breathe."

Charlie dropped Ron with a bashful look on his face, as he hit the ground Ron heaved in several breaths and then stood straight and smiled at his friend.

"Ron, is that you?" Ron turned and then smiled as he saw who had spoken.

"Felix! Tara!" He exclaimed, "Is that you?"

"Ron!" Tara squealed as she ran around to wrap him in a hug, "you really are alive!"

"Yeah," Ron smiled, "and you're not pregnant anymore."

"Nope," Felix wheeled around holding a sleeping baby, "Ron Stoppable, meet Ron Renton."

"I got someone named after me?" Ron was more than a little amazed, "how the heck did that happen?"

"Easy," Felix laughed, "we all thought you'd died saving the world less than two months before little Ron was born, so when Tara had the baby we all thought it'd be great to name him after you."

"Wow," Ron rubbed the back of his neck, "um thanks I guess. But I never really thought I did anything to get a kid named after me."

"Don't sell yourself short," Bonnie walked up beside Ron, "you're more of a hero to more people than you'd think. I mean you survived an exploding plane and then walked out of the Amazon Rainforest, that's the kind of legacy I'd want my kids to carry on."

Ron gulped nervously at the idea of Bonnie having children since it was fairly obvious at the moment who she'd be having children with. Bonnie wasn't that far behind his thoughts and soon Samantha was looking up at the two along with Felix and Tara as Ron and Bonnie looked everywhere but at each other with matching shades of red on their faces.

"Samantha," Tara knelt down next to the little girl, "when did your daddy get back?"

Samantha's face scrunched up in effort as she tried to remember the word and then lit up as she did so, "yesterday!" she said with a look of pride on her face.

Tara smiled at her, "and were there noises coming out of their room last night?"

Samantha nodded, "Mommy and Daddy were shouting last night, make them stop?"

Tara just giggled, "I don't think your mommy and daddy were fighting. There are different kinds of shouting at each other and the kind your mommy and daddy were doing is a very good kind."

"Oh," Samantha had a look of wonder on her face, "good!"

"Tara!" Bonnie squealed, "Don't talk about that kind of stuff and don't you dare talk about it in front of Samantha."

Ron buried his face in his hands and turned to Felix, "please tell me I didn't hear your wife asking my daughter about her mom and I in bed with each other."

"It's alright," Felix slapped Ron on the back, "it's about time you two did it."

Ron winced sharply at the hearty slap Felix had given him, "ouch man, that really hurt!"

"Wow," Felix's eyes went wide, "you two really went at it."

"Can we please not talk about this here?" Ron went crimson, "how about you come over for dinner tonight, then you can grill us all you want, just as long as it's not in public and not in front of Samantha."

"Okay," Felix sighed, "I guess we can spare you two public humiliation, what time should we stop by?"

"It's going to have to be later tonight," Bonnie was almost as crimson as Ron, "I have to stop by the doctor this afternoon."

"Is something wrong?" Tara looked concerned.

"No," Bonnie muttered, "I have to…" her finish was so mumbled no one but Ron knew what she meant.

"What was that?" Tara leaned in.

"I said," Bonnie blushed furiously, "I'm getting started on the pill."

"Oh," Tara said, "This delay wouldn't be giving you two a chance to try the pill out would it?"

"No," Ron squeaked before clearing his throat and continuing, "Bonnie has to go to the doctor and I've got a stop of my own to make, one I missed last year."

"Right," Felix's voice turned serious, "well just call us whenever you two are ready for us to come over."

"Will do," Ron said, "now you two were here to eat?"

**-One hour later-**

Ron stepped out of his car and walked up to Kim's grave, he had spent about half an hour more at the restaurant before Bonnie had reminded him he needed to head out as she was on her own way out to the doctor, she had also reminded him to stop at the drug store on his way back home. Ron stopped in front of the tombstone and brushed away the dust that had collected since anyone had been here last, the grass seemed trimmed so Ron assumed someone had been taking care of the grave.

"Hey Kim," Ron said as he sat down in front of the tombstone, "I'm sorry I missed coming here last year, I guess I'll come back here in a few months for this year's anniversary but I just wanted to stop by to let you know I'm still here and to let you know what's going on with me."

Ron paused and looked up into the blue sky as puffy white clouds drifted past, he could barely make sense of what had happened since he'd last visited Kim's grave and he wasn't nearly sure just what to tell her. But if there was anyone who could help him make sense of what was going on in his life it was Kim, dead or alive.

"I guess I should start with the big things," Ron scratched at his chin, "um the reason I missed coming here last year was because I was kinda stuck in the Amazon. You see I went to stop Duff Killigan from getting some plant he could use to turn the world into his own golf course, and when I was coming back my plane exploded. Turns out one of Killigan's minions thought we were going to fly him on that plane and when he found out we weren't he set the bomb off. Anyways I survived, someone was looking out for me because it just so happens that I had a parachute on when the plane exploded and I was in the perfect spot to be thrown free of all the burning wreckage. Well once I got down I started walking, trying to find my way out, and it took me a whole year to do that. So yeah, that's why I'm a little late for last year. I guess you already know that Bonnie moved in and we're actually getting along really well. She's different from when you two would always compete with each other over every little thing. I know you told me way back before we even started dating that Bonnie's family was a whole bunch of rich stuck up snobs, I guess Bonnie's the black sheep in her family because it turns out that once she got away from them she's actually nice."

Ron paused again and stared at Kim's tombstone for awhile, Kim had given him the epitaph she had wanted on her tombstone right after they'd gotten married. Ron had laughed and said she should have been figuring out his, after all the Nacos, the video games, and his lifestyle he would surely be the first to go. But here he was talking at Kim's grave far before what should have been her time. Then of course he had to think of the what if about all this, if Kim hadn't died would he have run into Bonnie when he had? And if he hadn't where would Bonnie be right now, she wouldn't have lasted two days much less two weeks or so at her parent's house if he hadn't invited her into his house.

"You probably want to know what's going on with Samantha," Ron went on, "well she's doing great, she'll be turning two before too long, she's already walking and talking and everything, and I owe Bonnie another thanks for making sure that she's grown up in a house with two parents. I did my best on my own, but trying to run a restaurant, start up a second one, and raise a baby, I don't know if even you could have done that but I know without Bonnie there's no way I could have. I suppose you're also wondering why Bonnie keeps coming up, ever since she moved in she's really become a pretty big part of my life, kinda odd to think about it but I'm more than alright with it, I don't know exactly when but I just know that at some point after Bonnie moved in I was really and truly happy for the first time since you died. You should also probably know that since uh yesterday Bonnie and I are kinda a couple, I'm not sure where we are on the whole scale from wide eyed teenagers to whatever you are at the end but we lived together for almost a year before I got stuck in the Amazon so we're past all the warm up stages."

Ron idly traced the words on Kim's tombstone, it was rather creepy to think that the next plot over was his own tombstone with an epitaph his parents, Kim's parents, and Bonnie had come up with, and a date of death that was way off. He hadn't asked them what it said, nor was he going to, and he certainly wasn't going to walk the few feet to look at it himself.

"It's weird KP," Ron said, "part of me wishes I was actually in that grave over there so I could be with you wherever you are, but at the same time I don't want anything more than being here with Bonnie and Samantha. And the weirdest part of it is that I don't feel torn between here and wherever you are at all. I guess I finally get that little thing that dad told me when I said I was worried that having Samantha might make me love you less. I still love you every bit as much as I did the day we said till death do us part. But I laid eyes on Samantha in that nursery and well what father couldn't help falling in love with his little girl when she looks up at you? And then there's Bonnie, I don't know exactly when but before I got on that plane I fell in love with her too. We were living together for so long that we'd gotten to know each other as well as any two people who are in love could ever hope for and I suppose that just sooner or later something had to happen to make us start falling for each other. And I don't love any of you any less for loving the others. I know you told me to not spend my whole life mourning you and get out there and be happy, but I never thought it would be so… well easy isn't the right word and two years isn't exactly quick. But I just never thought it'd be so… random I guess, I'm walking along and Bonnie's walking along and we just bumped into each other."

Ron looked down at his watch and let out a sigh, Bonnie would be done at the doctors office pretty soon and they'd need to start getting ready for Felix and Tara to come over before too long, not to mention that as much as he wanted to talk to Kim he was really creped out by his own tombstone sitting there in the corner of his vision.

"I suppose I should start wrapping this up," Ron looked back over at Kim's tombstone, "I'm not really sure where Bonnie and I are going from here and I'll be back in a few months with probably a much better idea of everything that's been going on. Plus when you're trying to get back into some sort of routine after being missing for a year there's a lot you have to do and I still haven't done most of it. There's a few big things, one in particular I'm thinking but I'm not sure how they'll turn out so hopefully I'll have some more news when I come back. Wherever you are KP, hope you're doing well."

Ron stood up and started walking back towards his car when his cell phone, another thing Bonnie hadn't gotten rid of, went off.

"Hello," Ron flipped the phone open.

"Hey Ron," Bonnie was on the other end, "I got home a bit early and was checking our messages. Can you drop by the airport on your way back, your parents are flying out tonight and they'll be at the airport before too long."

"Alright," Ron said in surprise, "are Felix and Tara still coming over?"

"Yeah," Bonnie replied, "I called them and I'll be making a run to the grocery store to get enough food for dinner, but before you get to the airport you are stopping at the drug store."

"Yes dear," Ron chuckled as he opened his car door and hung up.

**-One Week Later-**

"Bye grandma, bye grandpa," Samantha waved enthusiastically at her grandparents.

"We're not leaving quite yet," her grandmother knelt down to talk to her, "we still have to say goodbye to your mommy and daddy."

"And thank you," Ron's dad said, "it was incredibly generous of you two to have us like this when you were trying to readjust to each other."

"Nah," Ron brushed the praise off, "seeing Bonnie and Samantha was number one on my list of things to do when I got back, you and the Dr's. P. were number two so if you two hadn't come out here I would have flown out to Middleton before too long."

"Thank you all the same," his mom straightened, "you two have enough on your plate getting Ron back into the real world and figuring out how you two work as a couple."

"Really," Bonnie said, "it was great having you two over. You and the Possibles are like having real parents for a week at a time when you drop by."

"Oh Bonnie," Mrs. Stoppable wrapped her in a hug, "you're already part of both our families, and maybe before too long you'll really be part of the family."

"Mom!" Ron was bright red as he shouted.

"Don't be silly dear," his mom waved him off, "you and Bonnie are better at hiding those sorts of things than your father and I were but not good enough, in fact I think you might have been conceived when my parents were over."

Ron just stared at his mother.

"She's just teasing you son," his father placed a hand on his shoulder, "now we really do need to get going if we're going to make our flight."

After that there was a flurry of goodbyes and Ron and his parents walked out to the car for the trip to the airport. When the door closed Bonnie picked Samantha up and walked her back over to the couch.

"So, what do you want to do till daddy gets back?" Bonnie looked down at her little girl.

"Read," Samantha pointed to one of the children's books lying around the room.

Bonnie reached over and grabbed the book, she and Samantha started working through it with Bonnie helping Samantha whenever she had trouble with a word. Fifteen minutes after Ron and his parents left the doorbell went off, Bonnie told Samantha to stay on the couch and walked over to answer the door, Ron's parents must have remembered something they forgot and made a dash back to get it. But when she opened the door Bonnie couldn't help taking a step back in shock and not a little fear.

"Hi Bonnie," Josh Mankey said.

AN: Wow, it seems like forever since last chapter and at the same time like I just put it up. I noticed a definite up tick in how 'hot' the story is writing this chapter but I'm not going to go pushing an M rating so rest easy. I tried to write Samantha in baby-speak this chapter, really I tried. But I just couldn't do it without being horribly unsatisfied, so I've tried to keep her to what a two year old should be able to say and just typed it normal style. Now I know you all probably want me to get back to writing the next chapter and resolve that evil evil cliffhanger, so I'll go do that before the mob forms.


	7. Advice

Second Chances

Disclaimer: Just… no

Chapter Seven: Advice

**-Meanwhile-**

"So Ron," Ron glanced over at his dad in the front seat, "now that you're back are you and Bonnie going to start looking for a new house again?"

"I'm not sure," Ron shrugged his shoulders, "I've got to get myself settled back into our house period. Plus the last time we were looking for a new house Bonnie and I were in separate rooms, now that we're sharing one there is the guest bedroom, it just depends on if we want to convert it into a room for Samantha."

"That would be lovely," his mom said from the back, "I'm sure you and Bonnie would have so much fun getting the room ready."

"Yeah," Ron sighed, "but we'd have to do something with all the stuff we'd pull out of the room, we can put it upstairs but that would really make it crowded. Plus it was built to be a guest room and we aren't too sure how converting it into a kid's room would work. But we're not going to worry about that for awhile, I need to get settled back in, Bonnie and I need to work out where we're going as a couple, and Samantha still needs to grow a bit more before she'll need a new room."

"Ah," his mom went on, "and just out of curiosity, when you said you were looking for a new place were both of you looking for your own places or were you going to move together?"

Ron opened his mouth and then paused for awhile, "Actually I don't think we talked about Bonnie getting her own place even once while we were talking about needing a new place. Come to think of it I don't think Bonnie and I have ever talked about her getting her own place since she moved in, kinda moot point now though."

"That's certainly not a bad thing," his dad said, "at least it will be easy to meet Bonnie's parents though, just a short drive from our own house."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Ron tried to stop his parents train of thought before it could get going, "Bonnie's parents aren't exactly overjoyed that she's living with me period and something tells me that they're not going to send us chocolate when we tell them we're together. I'm just not so sure they'd be too happy if you two showed up at the doorstep breaking that kind of news to them."

"Why is that," his mom asked, "haven't they seen how happy you two are together or how much Bonnie loves Samantha?"

"Yeah…" Ron answered, "They're not too fond of Samantha either. Something about how she's such a big reason that Bonnie and I never talked about her moving out and Bonnie's parents really want her to move out."

Ron's dad started scratching his chin, "Well Mr. and Mrs. Rockwaller obviously haven't met Samantha yet then, I don't see how anyone could meet her and not fall in love with that little angel in five seconds."

"I know," his mother started gushing, "I filled up three rolls of film with pictures of her and I still feel like I missed so many opportunities to get good shots of her."

"Mom," Ron groaned, "it's a digital camera you don't use rolls of film in it, and you filled up three memory cards how can that not be enough pictures?"

"Ronald," his mom gently chastised him, "you just say that because you're around her all the time, but aren't you glad that Bonnie got her first steps on a camera, and all the other little moments you missed?"

"Okay I guess you've got a point there," Ron admitted, "but even with everything changing between me and Bonnie, I still feel like I've settled back into life at home without missing a thing."

"You seem surprised," his dad looked over at him, "people don't say home is where the heart is for no reason. You get back to where you want to be and it wouldn't matter if you'd been gone five years we'd still be having the same conversation right now. Now would you care to tell your mother and I when you two are planning to take Samantha in for her first haircut, she needs at least a trim."

Ron chewed his lip in thought for awhile, "probably the next time Bonnie or I need a haircut we'll just all go together and get her trimmed."

"What about potty training?" His mom said.

"We're starting it tonight," Ron replied, "Bonnie and I didn't want you two having to enjoy that little bit too."

"Oh it's not that bad," his dad patted him on the shoulder, "well it is pretty tough but it means that your days of changing diapers are numbered."

"I almost feel bad about that," Ron sighed, "I didn't just miss so many of Samantha's firsts but I left Bonnie alone to take care of her for a whole year. Is it bad for me to want to try and do all that stuff myself just to make it up to her?"

"Not at all, it just shows you care about both of them," his mom leaned forward and put a hand on his dad's seat, "and that's the kind of man we always hoped you'd be. But enough about that sort of stuff are you already going crazy with how fast Samantha's growing out of her clothes? It's even worse then what will happen once she becomes a teenager."

"I don't know about her becoming a teenager," Ron smiled, "I haven't approved her growing up yet. But yeah, remember I had to take a bag of old clothes to donate yesterday."

"Don't worry," his mom said soothingly, "she'll stop growing like a weed soon enough, are you and Bonnie ready for her to hit her terrible two's?"

Ron laughed, "I think she's already starting, I was getting her dressed yesterday morning and everything I said she should wear, right on the pile of things she wouldn't ever wear. But wait, you can be ready for the terrible two's?"

"About as much as you can be ready for a hurricane," his dad chuckled, "batten everything down and since you can't run away just ride it out. Now when are you going to quit dancing around and propose to Bonnie?"

"I'm not sure," Ron said without thinking, "I mean I just got back and I'd like us to see where we go as a couple but… wait, wait! We just got together and no way are we jumping from our first kiss to 'I do' that fast."

"Don't be silly Ronald," his mom said, "We're not expecting you to get back from the airport and go down on one knee. But we all know you were going to finish that sentence of yours with, you love her and she loves you, you've pretty much decided to spend the rest of your lives with each other. And as soon as you know you'll work as a couple which from what I've seen shouldn't be too long you'll be married in all but name and it will just be up to you to make it formal."

"Yeah," Ron admitted, "but I mean not only do I not have a ring, but we haven't even been out on a single date. Now you can't tell me that's the way you want to get into a lifetime commitment. Plus with Samantha going into her terrible two's we're probably barely going to have time to date, much less plan a wedding."

His dad turned to look at him, "but you are sure you want to marry her right?"

"Didn't I just say I was thinking when not if to propose to her?" Ron gave his parents a flat look, "I mean I know I want to spend the rest of my life with her, it's different than it was with Kim with her it was like we'd been together as friends and then boyfriend and girlfriend for so long I couldn't imagine not getting married to her. With Bonnie we just sorta ran into each other and now it's not that I can't imagine life without her, it's that I can and I really don't like what that looks like."

"Just as long as you know what you want dear," his mom said soothingly, "for what it's worth you have your father's and my complete and wholehearted blessing to marry that girl."

"Thanks mom," Ron smiled into the mirror so his mom could see it, "That's gonna have to do for the blessings I guess because I can't imagine Mr. Rockwaller ever giving me his blessing, I suppose I'll still have to try though."

"Why would that be?" His dad sounded confused, "I know your mother and I are a bit biased but if we were Bonnie's parents I'd think she could do far worse than wanting to marry you."

"You remember when Bonnie first moved in right?" Ron's parents nodded that they did indeed remember that, "Well Bonnie's dad has shown no signs of being over that phone call. And Bonnie told me about some of their conversations over the last year and I'm kinda getting the idea if I asked Mr. Rockwaller for Bonnie's hand in marriage saying no would be the least of the things he'd do."

"I think that's all the more reason for us to talk to Bonnie's family," his dad said, "from the sound of things we're going to be in-laws before too soon and it's never too soon to start building bridges."

"If you two could do that it would be great," Ron grinned, "I know that the only person I need to say yes is Bonnie but I'd really like to get her father's blessing. Plus if I could actually help Bonnie and her parents get along a little better that'd be absolutely fantastic."

"That's the spirit," his mom tried to cheer him up, "oh get off at this next exit up here."

"What?" Ron looked up in the mirror with a look of confusion on his face.

"Off the highway," his mom said.

Ron couldn't for the life of him imagine why his mom wanted him to get off the highway but he was not a stupid man and he knew better than to do something else when his mother was that specific.

His mom leaned forward and started talking, "now turn right at the light and then left into that jewelry store."

"Mom," Ron groaned, "weren't you the one who said you didn't expect me to propose to Bonnie as soon as I got back. And don't you two have a flight to catch in a bit."

"Nonsense," his mom waved him off, "we don't expect you to buy anything, just start getting some ideas floating around in your head. After all, if Samantha is going into her terrible two's it's best that you get this sort of thing done now while you still have the time. Which is also something we still have, your father and I will have plenty of time to catch our flight even if we spend some time helping you look for a ring."

Ron sighed and drove into the parking lot, his mom was of course right and it wasn't like he wasn't going to have to start doing this at some point, just did it have to be with his parents?

**-Back Home-**

"Grandma! Grandpa!" Samantha had of course ignored what Bonnie had told her to do and had run up beside her.

"Samantha," Bonnie said in a very 'mom' voice, "I want you to stand behind me and do not move."

Samantha was at the age where she would almost automatically do the opposite of whatever her parents told her to do, but Bonnie's tone had cracked through that and the little girl moved behind her mom's legs and started peeking out from the side.

"Now," Bonnie turned her attention back to Josh, "whatever you want with me I can have the police here before you could run far enough away so don't think you're getting away with anything."

"What?" Josh looked honestly confused, "I'm not here to get away with anything, and… were you pregnant when we got divorced?"

"Huh?" Bonnie looked down at Samantha, "no, no, Kim died giving birth so when I moved in with Ron I added 'mom' to my list of titles."

Josh looked back and forth between the two, "so that's Kim and Ron's daughter."

"Yes," Bonnie's voice was very defensive, "but before you go getting any ideas I've been raising her for almost two years and most people would say she's Ron and my daughter."

"Um okay…" Josh scratched his head, "I'm not quite sure what ideas I'm supposed to be getting."

"Well I'm not sure either," Bonnie snapped, "just what were you thinking coming here? You can't possibly imagine I'd want to see you ever again."

"Wait," Josh said very confusedly, "you mean you didn't want to talk to me? Your parents called me last night and said that you wanted to talk to me but you were too nervous to call me."

Bonnie sighed as all the pieces slid into place in her head, "okay, well come in then." At Josh's look she went on, "I hate you I'm not impolite."

Bonnie turned around and picked up Samantha so she could step aside and let Josh in. Josh walked into her and Ron's house and Bonnie motioned for him to sit down in one of the chairs scattered about the family room.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Bonnie said as Josh sat down in an armchair, "we've got water, soda, tea, and plenty of juice."

"Water's fine," Josh said politely, "anything you'd like me to do with all these toys I pulled off the chair?"

"Just put them on the floor," Bonnie walked back into the family room, "now would you mind telling me just what my parents called you about last night?"

"Sure," Josh took the glass of water, "it was right after dinner, I picked up the phone and it was your dad on the other end. Then your mom picked up another phone, I was kinda wondering what it was all about but they asked me if I'd heard about Ron coming out of the Amazon alive and well. I said that I had and then they said that you'd called them and told them that his coming back had made you realize you were actually still in love with me but that you were too nervous to call me about it."

Bonnie gave him a very flat look, "You can't really imagine I'd say that can you? Not after I walked in on you and my boss screwing each others brains out on my desk, and the fact that you decided to divorce me in about the most chauvinistic and cold hearted way possible."

"They said you didn't just call them and shout out that you were still in love with me," Josh said, "your dad told me that it was like a whole hour of you saying that Ron coming back had really gotten you thinking. And then your mom said that she'd helped you figure out that what it was that you'd realized was you didn't want someone like Ron in your life but that you wanted me. They said that I should stop over here and that you'd be ready to jump into my arms and go with me."

Bonnie rubbed her temples in aggravation, "I don't know what's worse, that my parents would actually do something like that or that you'd be stupid enough to go along with it. Let me make myself crystal clear right now, I am not in the least in love with you; did you miss where I said I hate you? For the first time in my life I feel like I'm completely out from under my parent's thumb and I couldn't be happier. If I was going to give this up at any point it would have been right after I thought Ron had died, I would have given up Samantha to her grandparents and run away from all this back to my parents. But you know what, I love Samantha too much to do that and I'm glad I didn't because when Ron came back I finally got the chance to tell him that I'm in love with him. Why on earth would I want to give this up?"

"You'd have to call your parents about that I guess," Josh scratched his head, "I wasn't really expecting that sort of thing out of you, but then I wasn't expecting you to do what you did when I filed the divorce papers so I figured I should at least look into it."

"And just what do you mean by that?" Bonnie arched an eyebrow.

Josh moved to scratching the back of his neck, "just that I hadn't expected you to sign the papers and leave, I'd thought you'd be waiting for me at home and we could rework our relationship."

Bonnie just stared at him in disbelief and would have kept doing so had Samantha not squirmed to be put down on the floor. Bonnie sat her down and then turned back to Josh, "that's…. that's… did my parents help you come up with that?"

"Well yeah actually they did," Josh said, "see your parents and mine and me for that matter, had gotten a lot of calls about all those social things we always went to. Pretty much everyone was complaining how I didn't have a proper handle on you and that it was threatening to bump us several rungs down the social ladder. So I called your dad and he gave me a bunch of ideas for how I could go about it, including the threaten divorce route. I picked that one because I figured as a lawyer you'd realize it wasn't really serious. I got quite the shock when I came back and found all your clothes and stuff missing and the papers signed."

Bonnie buried her head in her hands, "and you people wonder why I was so happy to get away from all of you. The nineteenth century ended two centuries ago and things have changed a little since then. Not least of which is that marriage is a partnership now, one person doesn't have to have a handle, or leash, or anything else on their spouse. Though I guess in some odd sort of way I do owe you a thanks, if you hadn't been so pig-headed and backwards about life I might not have run into Ron when I did and who knows where I'd be right now."

"You're welcome I guess," Josh said cautiously, "but so if I hadn't already had divorce papers waiting you would have…"

"Duh," Bonnie glared at him, "part of this odd notion we have in the future about marriage being a partnership is that you don't cheat on your partner. I bet that the settlement would have looked a bit different but you'd still be talking to Bonnie Rockwaller today, Bonnie Rockwaller-Mankey ceased to be when I walked in on you two. Now we're both clear on everything we need to be and since I still hate you I hope you'll forgive me if I want to see you as little as possible."

Bonnie and Josh stood up and Bonnie took the empty glass of water as they walked over to the door.

"One last thing," Bonnie said as she opened the door, "my favorite thing about being with Ron, more than how much it pisses off my parents even, is that I know he'll never ever in a million years cheat on me. Just think about that with all your mistresses."

Josh stopped, turned around and looked at Bonnie, "I'm not so sure about that. Ron's a rich guy and he's a man, that pretty much means he's going to have chances to cheat on you and odds are he's going to take at least one of those up."

Bonnie decided to not even to acknowledge the possibility with a response and just shut the door.

"Who was that mommy?" Bonnie turned around to see Samantha standing there holding her rabarilla cuddle buddy.

Bonnie knelt down to look her right in the face, "that was someone mommy knew before you and daddy, and someone I'd like to forget very much."

"Friend?" Samantha asked in that completely innocent childlike fashion.

"No," Bonnie said, "not a friend. You know how nice mommy and daddy and your grandparents are?"

Samantha nodded.

"Well," Bonnie went on, "not everyone is like that. Some people aren't nice at all, and he's one of those people."

"Oh," Samantha's eyes went wide, "but you were still being po… po…"

"Polite," Bonnie filled in the word, "and yes I was. When your daddy and I tell you to say please and thank you that's part of being polite. And you should be polite to everyone even if they're not a friend."

"Okay!" Samantha smiled brightly.

Bonnie pecked her on the forehead and stood up, "now you go play with rabarilla for a bit, mommy has to use the phone."

"Are you going to tell daddy about that man?" Samantha stared up at her.

Bonnie paused, Josh hadn't said anything really important and she didn't want to tempt Ron getting any mistaken ideas and going to have a second confrontation with Josh that could end worse than their only one to date had. No, Josh's visit wasn't anything important and Ron knowing could only make matters worse, plus Bonnie would rather try to forget that Josh Mankey had ever existed.

"No," Bonnie knelt back down, "Mommy is trying to forget that man and part of that is not talking about him or his coming over. And you want to help mommy with that right?"

"Yeah," Samantha said excitedly, "our secret?"

"Not even a secret," Bonnie ruffled her hair, "it never happened, okay?"

"Okay," Samantha said.

Bonnie pecked her on the forehead again and stood up, Samantha walked off to play with her cuddle buddies. Making sure to never let her out of her sight for long Bonnie grabbed her cell phone and dialed her parents.

"Bon-Bon!" Her mom's voice was overly cheerful as usual on the other end, "and tell me, how's the drive with Josh going?"

"I'm not calling from Josh's car," Bonnie's voice was very dry, "I'm at home."

"Oh," her mom squealed, "I'm so happy you're already talking about being back with Josh as home, your father and I are so proud of you Bon-Bon."

Bonnie let out an aggravated sigh, "Mother, how many times do we have to go over this, Josh's house hasn't been home for two years. Home is Ron and my house, and that's where I'm calling from."

"Bonnie," her mom actually sounded surprised, "you have to have realized by now that living with that Stoppable and his… brat isn't at all good for you and it's high time you put yourself back into a better environment where you can make more of a woman out of yourself."

Bonnie's reply was slow, clear, and absolutely frigid, "Don't. you. ever. call. my. little. girl. a. brat. again. mother. We're only family because unfortunately I happen to be related to you. Now if you don't mind please stop trying to mess with my love life, or any part of my life at all for that matter."

"Your father and I only want the best for you Bon-Bon," her mother seemed unfazed by Bonnie's anger, "what's it going to take to convince you of that."

Bonnie didn't miss a beat, "I don't suppose never speaking to either of you again for as long as we live would be asking too much?"

"Dear," her mom said condescendingly, "your father and I care about you too much to ever just abandon you like that. And that Stoppable girl isn't your daughter; you should be working on having children with a respectable man like Josh."

Bonnie glared at her mother wherever she was, "Just because I'm not Samantha's mother doesn't mean I can't be her mom. And just because you're my mother doesn't mean I have to think of you as mom. I've been raising Samantha since she was a month old, I've thought of myself as her mom since before she even knew the word. And you're probably the last person in the world who can talk to me about who is and isn't part of my family. So don't go trying to tell me who I should and shouldn't be trying to have children with. I'm not Connie or Lonnie I'll have children when and with who I darn well please."

"Oh Bon-Bon," her mother managed to talk down to her over the phone, "of course you're going to have children with who you want to, your father and I just want to make sure that you know you also want to have children with a man who will be there for them and you."

"And I'm sure Josh is that man." Bonnie ground out.

"Well of course," her mom sounded far too chipper about the idea, "he's a very respectable young man and he'd be dedicated to you and any children you had together."

Bonnie tried to make sure her mom could see her scowl through her voice, "so that's why he was banging Rebecca on the side, because he was so dedicated to me. Josh didn't walk out of the Amazon just to get back to me, Ron did. Josh wasn't there for me when my family decided to label me a failure yet again, Ron was. So you want to know what you can do to make me think you really want the best for me. Stop trying to bring Ron down at every chance you get, and never speak to me again."

Bonnie didn't even wait for her mother's doubtless scandalized reply; instead she simply flipped her phone shut, hit the power button, and tossed it aside. Feeling her usual sense of refreshment from venting at her 'family,' Bonnie got up and walked over to where Samantha was playing with her cuddle buddies.

"Hey there," Bonnie said as she sat down with a smile on her face, "can I join in?"

**-That Night-**

"Hey Bonnie," Ron held a hand under the spoon as he turned to face his girlfriend, "can you taste this and tell me if it needs onion powder or garlic salt."

Bonnie took the spoon from him and sipped at the sauce, "onion definitely needs onion."

"Cool," Ron smiled, "dinner in five then."

"I'll set the table," Bonnie leaned up and gave him a playful kiss on the lips before walking over to the cabinets to grab some plates.

"Are you wearing a new lip gloss?" Bonnie turned around to see Ron licking his lips.

"Yeah," she blushed lightly, "what do you think about it?"

Ron put down the spoon, walked over to her and planted a very long kiss on her, "Booyah! Whatever that is it I am totally into you wearing it more often."

"Thanks" Bonnie's blush deepened, "it's kiwi-strawberry, the store was out of my normal green apple and this was on sale."

"Well I have a new opinion then," Ron proclaimed, "kiwis and strawberries go together like diablo sauce and the Naco."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I run out of lip gloss," Bonnie made sure to put a bit of extra sway in her hips as she walked out of the kitchen, "now hurry up and finish dinner, I'm going to go get Samantha."

"Real quick," Ron said before Bonnie could leave, "since we've finally got a night alone you want me to pick up those DVD's we were supposed to watch awhile ago and we can make it our first date?"

"Just as long as we skip the awkwardness," Bonnie laughed, "but that sounds like a great idea, we're going to need every chance we can get."

Ron smiled as Bonnie walked out of the kitchen; they were working out as well as he could have hoped as a couple. He thought she hadn't noticed, hoped she hadn't noticed him sneaking glances at her finger trying to figure out just what kind of ring and stone would look best there. He hadn't bought anything, or even taken a serious look at anything with his parents but their approval for him to propose to Bonnie had the idea chugging away in his head. Of course he wasn't going to sneak out of work tomorrow and buy a ring. He had called Felix and Tara on his way back, both had agreed to help him keep it a surprise for Bonnie, not to mention Tara had nearly damaged his hearing with her enthusiasm for helping him pick out a ring. He was thinking of Jim's wedding as a good time to propose, Jim and his fiancé had pushed it back two whole months to let him do everything in order to be a part of the wedding. Maybe right after the bouquet toss, no wait, before the bouquet toss Bonnie might not necessarily catch the flowers and he didn't want to insult whoever did if it wasn't Bonnie. Ron's mind in general was revolving around the thought that the clock was ticking until he went down on one knee before Bonnie Rockwaller and pulled out a little jewel box.

Meanwhile Bonnie was walking up the stairs to Samantha's room with a dreamy smile on her face. Even after her mother's best efforts to bring her down Ron had managed to make her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world again with something as simple as complimenting her lip gloss. The only problem, if one could call it that, she could think of in her relationship with Ron was if she should start dropping hints that she was ready for him to pop the question. Ron would of course get around to it eventually but he would probably wait far longer than he should out of a sweet but misguided effort to make sure she was comfortable around him again. Bonnie had to suppress a giggle as she picked up Samantha out of her crib, she hoped that her and Ron's nighttime activities since he came back had put to rest any doubts about her being comfortable around him. But, Bonnie decided, if the biggest worry she had about her relationship with Ron was how to go about getting him to propose faster than life was treating her well indeed.

Bonnie walked back into the kitchen just as Ron was finishing ladling his sauce onto the chicken he had grilled for dinner; also at Samantha's high chair he already had a spill cup of milk and some baby food ready for her. Dinner with a two year old baby was a different adventure every night, Ron and Bonnie spent as much time trying to get Samantha to eat as they spent eating their own food, and were it not for the miracle of lidded cups and plastics they would have spent just as much time again cleaning up the mess their daughter made.

"So," Ron looked over at Bonnie loading up the dishwasher from where he was cleaning some pots, "you never did tell me why you were late getting back from dropping your parents off at the airport, anything happen?"

Ron opened his mouth but then hesitated, he wanted his proposal to be a surprise and it wasn't like he had anything to hide from Bonnie, well aside from planning to propose but that was exactly what he wanted kept a surprise for the next month.

"Nope," he smiled, "just ended up taking longer than I thought it would."

Bonnie smiled back but her thoughts were racing, Ron's pause meant he had something to hide from her, that he was going to propose at some point was a rather open secret. And Bonnie could only think of one other thing he'd want to hide from her, Josh couldn't be right… could he?

AN: Okay before the mob sets out to lynch me remember please that I've promised you all a happy ending to this story. Simply bear with me and keep in mind that I put it under 'Drama' for a reason, not least of which there's going to be drama in this story. Hopefully this chapter answered most of your questions from the beginning of the story, and if not they should get answered in the next two chapters before the finale. Now I turn twenty one on Monday and live in the United States. I gotta go do homework this weekend so I can party, recover, and write the next chapter. Ciao all.


	8. Nervous

Second Chances

Disclaimer: Kim Possible, not mine!

Chapter Eight: Nervous

**-Two Months Later-**

**-Ron & Tara-**

"What if she finds out about this Tara? Bonnie will kill me, and I mean six feet under kill me."

"Ron you need to relax, I've talked to Bonnie and she doesn't suspect a thing."

"I'm not so sure about that, Bonnie's starting to ask a lot more about what I'm doing when I come home from work late, or take mysterious breaks in the middle of the day."

"Well then if you don't want her to find out you should come up with some better answers or maybe we can reschedule our little outings so they're less suspicious."

"I guess we could start rescheduling. I really don't want Bonnie to find out about this though, if she finds out I've been keeping something like this from her it could completely wreck us."

"Stop blowing this completely out of proportion. You might, _might_ be right that Bonnie would get a bit angry at you for keeping this from her. But I'm sure that if there's anyone she'd expect you to do this sort of thing with it would be me. Plus she'd have to get angry at me too, I'm a completely willing participant to this."

"But it was my idea, that's like extra mad at points."

"Oh come on Ron, you have to admit that several of the things we've tried have been my idea. Not like Bonnie's going to get mad period."

"But I said, and you had thoughts, then we did… oh Bonnie is so going to blame me."

"Would you stop panicking already? When you finally tell her about this Bonnie is going to understand why you kept it from her and she'll totally forgive you."

"Tell her about this!? Tara I don't want to die, there is no way I'm telling Bonnie about what we've been doing."

"Ron do you love Bonnie?"

"What kind of question is that Tara, of course I do."

"Well then you need to tell her about this at some point, even it it's when you spring our little secret on her."

"I know… but it's not like this is easy. You're helping me set up something that's going to last a lifetime and it's going to be me who gets the pain for dragging Bonnie along."

"Calm down, you're proposing to her not dragging her on an extended tour of the Sahara."

"Maybe I should run away to the Sahara, when Bonnie finds out I've been hiding looking for a ring from her she's so going to say no. You'd cover for me wouldn't you Tara?"

"There's just one little problem with that, Bonnie's not going to say no when you propose to her, I'm standing by what I said last week that this will be the best surprise she's ever gotten. At least till she walks in on you and says you two are going to have a little bundle of joy in nine months."

"Don't say that Tara, I just know that Bonnie's going to say no when I propose to her for this. Then she'll turn out to be pregnant and I'll only get to see our kid on holidays and birthdays."

"Ron, Bonnie's not going to be the one you have to worry about hurting you if you keep going on like this. Now get out of that car and let's go get you a ring to put on her finger."

**-Bonnie-**

For the third time that morning Bonnie found herself hunched over the toilet bringing up God only knew what meal and landing it in the porcelain bowl. For the last week she'd been grumpy, miserable, and to top it off she could barely hold anything down. Add that to the fact that over the past two months she had become more than a little suspicious that Ron and Tara were having an affair and it was easy to imagine why the brunette was in a foul mood.

And she was more than a little scared, it had been two months since Ron had come back and the one time they hadn't used protection. The morning after Bonnie had said they should be fine but she could have been wrong and she was smart enough to know that once was all it could end up taking for Samantha to become an older sister. Ordinarily just throwing up wouldn't have her afraid of something like that, but the fact that it was two months after she and Ron hadn't used protection had her thinking this was far more than just some stomach flu or other virus.

Bonnie got up and walked over to the sink to brush her teeth. Looking in the mirror she decided that it wouldn't be too far a stretch for Ron to want to have an affair with Tara, the blonde had worked off all the weight from having a child long before Ron had come back. And with her long flowing blonde locks and clear blue eyes it wasn't any wonder why Ron might choose to pursue his high school crush on her. Not that Bonnie thought herself bad looking; she knew that she had curves in all the right places and that her hair framed her face in rather flattering ways. But she also knew that even pushing a stroller along the street Tara turned more than a few heads.

The odd thing though was that where Josh had noticeably drifted away from her when he had started having an affair with Rebecca, Ron seemed if anything to be trying to get closer to her. Bonnie wanted to think and hoped that it was because Ron felt guilty for cheating on her. She knew Tara would never be the one to start something like that, and she liked to think that Ron had come to regret making that sort of choice. Particularly since she'd started showing symptoms of what might well be morning sickness, the first two times she'd thrown up that morning Ron had been there to hold her hair away from her face and rub her back to make her feel better. This led her to think that if she heard what she thought she was going to hear from the doctor in a few hours that Ron admitting to an affair would go much differently than Josh had.

**-Ron & Tara-**

"Face it Tara," Ron nearly wept, "we're not going to find Bonnie a ring today. And we're flying out to Middleton tomorrow, and I'm not going to have a ring, and I won't be able to ask Bonnie to marry me, and even if I did she'd say no!"

Tara buried her face in her hands, "Ron I swear if you don't stop panicking I am going to call Bonnie right now and tell her everything. Even if it's only to shut you up and prove you wrong when Bonnie jumps you on the spot."

"Oh how I want to believe you," Ron started wailing, "but really, keeping the whole looking for a ring thing from Bonnie sounded like a much better idea two months ago."

"Just come on," Tara grabbed Ron's hand and started dragging him towards the jewelry store, "this is the last store for the morning, if we don't find anything here we can do one last mad dash after lunch and find you something then."

The two walked into the jewelry store, technically hand in hand though it was only because Tara was physically dragging Ron into the store. Of course two people walking into a jewelry store hand in hand, both young and looking rather eligible, one could be excused for thinking they were a couple.

Which of course was exactly the mistake the manager made, "good afternoon," the middle aged man in rimless glasses said, "I hope I'm not being to forward asking if I can help a lovely young couple like yourselves look for an engagement ring perhaps?"

"Well we are looking for an engagement ring," Tara giggled, "but not for me," she held up her hand to show the wedding band, "Ron here has finally worked up the guts to propose to my best friend and I am not letting him buy a ring without my help."

From there on Ron felt more like a spectator, Tara and the manager went through rack after rack of rings at speeds that left Ron blinking wondering just what had happened. At least they did slow down to ask his opinion when Tara spotted a potential candidate, otherwise Ron would have started wondering which one of them was going to be proposing to Bonnie. But for all the rings they looked at it was beginning to seem to Ron that this store would be just as fruitless as all the others.

"I must admit," the manager rubbed his eyes under his glasses, "this is a true challenge. But I've been keeping this ring in the back and I think it might just do the trick."

Thirty seconds later the manager walked out of the back room with a small jewel box, he stopped in front of Ron and Tara and opened it up. Tara turned to Ron and smiled, "and you said we weren't going to find Bonnie's ring today."

**-Bonnie-**

Bonnie looked around at all the couples sitting happily in the maternity clinic, she was the only woman there without a man present. And though she was fairly bummed out that Ron wasn't there she one hadn't asked him to come along, and two all the other women in the clinic were definitely pregnant, she was just there to have her suspicions confirmed and didn't need to tell Ron the news until later. Preferably as he was drinking something, she could at least get that bit of satisfaction out of the whole ordeal.

After that though Bonnie knew that her relationship with Ron was in a fair bit of limbo. She was confident that telling Ron about a baby on the way would push him to admit his affair with Tara. Where they went from there however was as much up to Ron as it was to her. Despite knowing Ron was having an affair Bonnie felt optimistic, hopefully the fact that Ron was trying very much to keep their relationship not just going but flourishing meant that his affair with Tara was just their both fulfilling a high school crush. And despite what she'd told Josh, Bonnie knew that she plain loved Ron too darn much to not forgive him.

Still though Bonnie did wish that Ron were here with her, it was just plain depressing to be sitting there watching happy couples read magazines while she waited alone to be called in to see her doctor. At least the next time she was here she would hopefully have Ron coming with her. Bonnie couldn't imagine Ron just up and disowning any child she might be carrying, certainly not after seeing how much he loved Samantha.

"Bonnie Rockwaller?" Bonnie looked up to see a nurse standing near the hall to the patient rooms holding a clipboard.

Bonnie got up and walked over to the nurse who led her into one of the rooms, it was painted a cheerful blue but all the medical equipment about the room still left it with a very sterile feel. Had she been here for a checkup she would have had to change into a paper gown, Bonnie was thankful for the small miracle of not having to undergo that. Having nothing much to do Bonnie just sat down on the table and started swinging her legs, it had been several hours since she'd last had to dash to the toilet and it would be just her luck to have to dash past the doctor and right to the toilet.

Fortunately Bonnie's pessimism was not prophetic as she remained seated and not about to throw up when the doctor walked into the room holding a clipboard with a manila envelope that Bonnie couldn't help think held the key to her future.

"Hi Bonnie," the elderly man with crazy white hair shook her hand, "I'm Dr. Emmett Brown. Are you alone today?"

"Yeah," Bonnie replied, "I wanted to make sure of it before I told Ron, so I guess for my next checkup he'll be here too. But today it's my little secret from and surprise for him."

"Ah," Dr. Brown looked at the clipboard, "well then it's a good thing you haven't told him anything yet, because you're not pregnant."

"Huh," Bonnie's face sported a look of disbelief, "did I just hear you wrong?"

"You heard me say you're not pregnant right?" Dr. Brown looked like he really thought she might have heard something else.

"I heard you right," Bonnie said, "but how exactly is that possible. I'd be about two months along and I can't hold a darn thing down, I'm tired all the time, I feel like I'm pregnant, I'm acting like I'm pregnant, and I'm just not far enough along to look pregnant, how can I not be pregnant."

"Well," Dr. Brown adopted a complete academic pose, "it's actually quite an incredible coincidence. You have the stomach flu, I could try to calculate the odds of your getting it at exactly this time but I assure you they're small enough that this is absolutely incredible. I suppose it wouldn't be too forward of me to ask if you missed your… well you know what I'm talking about."

Bonnie had to work hard indeed to resist the urge to hit herself upside the head. That should have been the big clue she needed to realize she wasn't pregnant but just sporting the stomach flu.

"Any idea when this stomach flu might start passing?" Bonnie asked hopefully.

"Oh it should already be starting to," Dr. Brown answered, "I'll show you the chart and let you see for yourself."

Dr. Brown handed her a piece of paper and Bonnie looked down. Immediately she recognized that she wasn't looking at a medical chart, political science major she may have been but she remembered enough from her required biology class to know something was wrong.

"Um Dr. Brown," Bonnie said hesitantly, "I know I'm not a doctor but I don't think this is a medical chart."

"Eh," Dr. Brown looked at her absentmindedly, "Great Scott! That's not a medical chart, I'm sorry. That's a little thing I call a flux capacitor, something I'm working on during my off hours, here's what you want."

He handed Bonnie her medical chart and indeed she could make out that her flu should start getting better but her curiosity had been piqued, "If you don't mind my asking just what is a flux capacitor?"

"Well," Dr. Brown seemed very excited, "it came to me one day when I was hanging up a clock. I was balancing on my toilet, slipped, and hit my head. When I came to it just came to me. In theory it will enable people to travel through time by reaching a speed of exactly eighty eight miles per hour. But I'm still waiting on a shipment of some parts from someone named… oh what was it…. Renton! Yes, a young man named Felix Renton; once I have those I can start testing it."

After that Bonnie only listened with half an ear, she had totally forgotten about Felix in all this. If he didn't already know what was going on he certainly deserved to, and perhaps they could come up with some way for Ron and Tara having an affair to have a happy ending for everyone.

**-Ron & Tara & Felix-**

Ron had wanted to head home as soon as possible after dropping Tara off, but she had cajoled him into coming inside if for no other reason than to show Felix the success of their long and hard labors.

"Okay," Felix said as he looked into the box, "I'll admit I'm impressed. I was starting to believe Ron's panicking that you two wouldn't find a ring for Bonnie in time for him to do this at Jim's wedding."

Tara's look down at her husband managed to convey an unsaid 'told you so' very well and was not the least spoiled by little Ron in her arms sucking at a bottle.

"You're still sure that Bonnie's going to say yes when I propose to her, right?" Ron was far less calm than either of the Rentons.

"Ron," Tara sighed, "Even if Bonnie got irked at you for not telling her you were looking for a ring it would never stop her from saying yes. And any anger she has going towards you is going to completely disappear when she sees what's in there."

"I've got to agree with Tara on this," Felix added, "and not just because we're married. You're going to want to pop the question to her in a private place because when she jumps you after seeing that thing what comes next won't be suitable for the children at that wedding."

Ron managed a chuckle for his friends sakes but his insides were still churning, "I wasn't this bad when I proposed to Kim was I?"

"No," Tara said, "you were worse. I remember Kim calling me six months before you proposed to her and she knew you were looking for a ring. You're doing lots better in the time department at least. I don't remember if you were this scared Kim would say no, but you probably were. I'll bet you were terrified she was going to meet some European hunk and go chasing off after him, or that she'd realize you were just meant to be best friends forever and never really be a couple. So yeah, you were probably worse with Kim on the scared she'd say no thing too."

Ron looked back and forth between Felix and Tara, "please tell me you two aren't enjoying my misery that much."

"I don't know about enjoying it," Felix smiled, "but it certainly does help make things interesting."

"At least he's on my side," Ron pointed to his miniature self, "no way one Ron could ever do something like that to another. Plus he's too young to do something like that, but I still have one Renton on my side."

"Speaking of little ones," Felix said, "how's Samantha taking the whole you proposing to Bonnie idea?"

Ron grinned, "I think she's only just now getting the idea down that Bonnie and I weren't already married. She's in on the whole not telling Bonnie that I'm looking for a ring for her deal, my little girl can keep a secret it turns out. But I'm a bit worried because in not so many years Bonnie and I are going to have to find a way to sit her down and tell her that Bonnie's not her birth mother."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem," Tara sat down next to Felix, "her earliest memories are going to have Bonnie in them so it's not like she'll have to adjust to anything. But right now you just worry about getting to the altar with Bonnie."

"Thanks for the votes of confidence," Ron said, "but I've got to get going. Bonnie's been sick for the last week or so and I want to get home and make sure she's doing alright."

**-Felix & Tara-**

After Ron left Felix and Tara settled down for what they hoped would be a relaxing weekend afternoon. And it was one they intended to make the most of, the madness of trying to help Ron find a ring for Bonnie and keeping him from going crazy with fear she'd say no to his proposal had seriously cut into their time together. And once Ron had proposed to Bonnie and she'd said yes then there would of course be a wedding to help them with, which meant even more cutting into their time.

"So," Felix started nudging Tara with his wheelchair, "this is going to be our last free weekend for awhile and it looks like we've got nothing to do."

"Oh I don't know about that," Tara smiled, "I've got a few ideas of how we can pass our time. Things not suitable for children at any wedding."

Felix's wheelchair made an excellent making out platform for any young couple and Tara wasted no time laying little Ron down on the couch where he was rapidly going to sleep and hips swaying dangerously the whole way walked over to where Felix was sitting. Things were just starting to get plenty hot and heavy between them when crying started coming from the couch. Sighing and giggling at the same time Tara pried herself up from her husband and walked over to where their son was lying on the couch, what was wrong with him was immediately obvious from the smell and the bulge in his diaper only confirmed it.

"I'll take care of it," Felix wheeled up.

"No, let me," Tara picked up Ron, "you had to take care of him all morning so now it's only fair that I get this one."

Tara walked away before Felix could voice any objections, walking up the stairs she smiled over her shoulder as though to advertise what was waiting for him when she finished. Felix leaned back in his wheelchair and smiled, there were still days he found it hard to believe someone as beautiful and smart as Tara had chosen him out of all the men she could have had. Upstairs the water started in the bath and Felix let out a small sigh, he was going to have to wait a bit longer than he'd hoped for Tara to come back.

Felix was just about to wheel into the kitchen and grab some fruit when the doorbell went off. Felix wheeled to the door and when he opened it up found Bonnie on the other side.

"Hi," she said, "is Tara here?"

"Yeah," Felix replied, "she's upstairs giving little Ron a bath, let me go…."

"No," Bonnie interrupted, "I wanted to talk to you, it's about Tara and Ron."

Felix let Bonnie in and for the next few minutes she laid out in a brief yet detailed fashion her suspicions about Ron and Tara and all the time they'd been spending together over the last two months. Had he not known better Felix might actually have been concerned, he knew that Tara was the complete definition of blonde bombshell and that her crush on Ron in high school didn't seem that long ago at times. But several of the examples Bonnie had used were times he'd been dragged along, plus he knew the rest of the story so he was somewhat amused but it was tempered by concern for how serious Bonnie seemed.

"Um Bonnie…" he said preparing to correct her.

"No," she cut him off again, "I'm going to talk to Ron about this at Jim's wedding, you should do the same with Tara and we can figure out how everyone can get past this after that. Now I've got to go."

Right after Bonnie left the water turned off upstairs and shortly thereafter Tara walked downstairs, her shirt was more than a little wet and even with his thoughts as they were Felix still had a very hard time keeping his mind away from what he saw.

"Hey there," Tara's voice made Felix think her wet shirt was intentional, "miss me?"

"Yeah," Felix croaked out before getting his head back under control, "but uh Bonnie was just here."

"She was?" Tara said surprised, "did she say what she wanted?"

"Yeah," Felix forced himself to maintain eye contact, "apparently she's gotten some interesting ideas from all the time you've spent helping Ron pick a ring for her."

Tara paused in thought for awhile before her eyes widened with realization. She was blonde, and she did have her blonde moments but usually she was a very intelligent woman, just one of the many things that had attracted Felix to her.

"So we should call Ron," she said at last, "tell him what's going on so he can keep this from becoming a problem."

"I thought about doing that," Felix said, "but actually I think it'd be better to let him work it out on his own. Once he pulls that ring out Bonnie's going to realize why he was spending so much time with you and I think she'll change her mind pretty fast."

"Well then," Tara suddenly had a very sultry smile on her face, "I guess that means we have this weekend all to ourselves again."

**-Three days later-**

Ron was nervous, very nervous actually, so nervous his antiperspirant was all that stood between him and filling his tux with sweat. Proposing marriage to a woman wasn't something he did every day, or even that often, it was only the second time he'd ever done this and but for a few twists of fate he wouldn't be at Jim's wedding reception planning to propose to Bonnie. With a little break in the festivities his dad had pulled him aside for a pep talk about proposing, something he'd done right before he had proposed to Kim. And just like then Ron was so nervous he was nearly quaking in fear, the only difference was that this time Mr. Dr. P. had joined in on the pep talk.

"Ron I know you're feeling very excited about this," his dad sounded way too calm, "but you were even worse when we had this talk before and everything turned out fine, Bonnie is going to say yes when you propose and you'll be kicking yourself for getting so worked up about it."

"Easy for you to say," Ron's drink trembled in his hand, "you're not the one who has to go throw himself to the lions, the wolves, and the genetically engineered poodles out there."

"You know Ronald," Mr. Dr. P. said, "when you proposed to Kimmie-cub she knew you were going to do it that night and she was just as nervous as you were. She was so worried she was going to mess up saying yes and that somehow that would make you not want to marry her. I don't know if Bonnie knows what you're up to tonight but odds are she's just as nervous as you are, just keep thinking that you both love each other and you'll be fine."

That gave Ron some pause, he'd never known about Kim's state of mind the night he'd proposed to her, nor had he ever paused to think about it. The idea that Bonnie might know what he was up to was somewhat depressing because it would mean all his secrecy was for naught, but on the other hand the idea that she might be as nervous as he was made him want to walk right out and propose to her on the floor just to end her being nervous that much faster. Just as he was about to announce his intentions to do just that a cry of excitement from many women came from the ballroom where the reception was being held. Ron raced for the door and looked on in horror as women started bunching together for the bouquet toss, including Bonnie who was being rapidly pushed to the front. Ron's heart started racing at the bouquet arced through the air, if Bonnie didn't catch it he didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't want to insult whoever caught the flowers by then proposing to Bonnie right after, but if Bonnie knew what he was up to he didn't want to make her more nervous by not going through with the proposal.

His worry was all needless though; the bouquet didn't so much arc through the air as it sped right towards Bonnie who caught it with a look of surprise on her face. As the women dispersed she caught his eyes and a blush graced both their faces. Then Jim walked up for the garter throw and Ron suddenly felt himself pushed from behind by his and Kim's dads. He stumbled into the back of the mass of men and was quickly nudged and prodded to not only the front but right in front of Jim. With panache Jim reached up and grabbed the garter from his new bride, he then turned to face the men with a smirk on his face and with next to no hesitation he pulled the garter back like a rubber band and shot it right at Ron. Before Ron knew what was happening he was being heartily slapped on the back by every guy within reach and as the group dispersed he almost unconsciously stumbled to where Bonnie was standing.

"Hi," Ron awkwardly stuffed the garter into his pocket.

"Hi," Bonnie blushed as she tried to hide the bouquet behind her.

"So," Ron tilted back and forth on his feet, the box in his other pocket seeming to weigh a ton, "wanna head out onto the balcony for awhile and get some air?"

"Yeah, sure," Bonnie sounded as nervous as he felt.

The balcony of the country club the wedding reception was at was the perfect spot for what Ron had in mind. It was a large stone space with rose bushes and flowers aglow under the moonlight, a night sky dotted with stars added to the picture and a song drifting from the ballroom Ron recognized as one of his dad's old seventies love songs completed the mood.

"Um, listen," Ron fiddled with the ring box in his pocket, "there's something I wanted to talk to you about tonight."

Bonnie took a deep breath, "it's alright Ron, I already know and I just want you to know that I forgive you."

"Thanks," Ron sighed with relief, "it's a bit of a bummer you already knew, but I am sorry I kept that from you, I really should have told you a long time ago."

"Ron it's okay," Bonnie smiled at him, "just as long as you don't go doing something like that again we can work it out just fine."

"I hope I never do this again," Ron's laugh was very dry, "if I have anything to say about it I'm done with it tonight and I never think about it again."

"That's great," Bonnie sounded very relieved, "but you still owe Tara and especially Felix a major apology when we get home."

"What?" Ron was confused, "I… um… wait are we talking about the same thing here?"

Bonnie looked him right in the eyes, "I thought we were talking about you having an affair with Tara."

"Huh?!" Ron's look of confusion gave Bonnie serious pause, he seemed completely honest and Bonnie knew he couldn't act at all. In fact he had said on several occasions that if he ever did think he could act she shouldn't let him behind the wheel of anything.

"Yeah," Bonnie said sadly, "I know that you two have been spending so much time together over the last few months because you're not over your high school crushes on each other and you wanted to somehow live those out."

"I've been spending a lot of time with Tara," Ron sputtered, "but nothing like that. She was helping me with something."

"What then?" Bonnie was incredibly torn, on the one hand she had her suspicions of two months, but on the other hand Ron was never good at keeping things from her and the total honesty he was putting across had her seriously doubting her conclusions.

Ron took a deep breath before he dropped to one knee and pulled out the ring box, "she was helping me find this, Bonnie I… I… oh heck I totally forgot the whole speech I had planned out."

Bonnie was vaguely aware of Ron babbling on but her eyes were fixed on the ring, it was…. Gorgeous would be an insult to that ring. A beautifully cut diamond surrounded with small sapphires the color of her eyes set on a gold band with threads of white gold woven into it. And in her mind suddenly things shifted, she knew Tara well enough to know that at a hint of Ron looking for a ring for her the blonde would practically tie herself to Ron in order to help him find a ring. And while two months was a long time to find a ring it was more than worth it to see the ring in Ron's hand in front of her.

Bonnie focused back in on Ron still trying to ad-lib his speech and cut him off, "Ron there are four things I want you to do in the next ten seconds, shut up, stand up, put that ring on my finger, and kiss me."

That was all the yes Ron needed.

AN: Yes that whole middle is one giant Back to the Future allusion, and if you don't know what that is it will make me very sad since it means I'm getting old. I promised you all a happy ending to this story and this is where I'm starting to deliver since the last three chapters including this one all have happy endings. My evil though remains intact for that little stunt I pulled at the start but before the mob comes to burn me just remember the end of the chapter. And for the record no comment on whether or not Ron and Bonnie will have children in this story. Now I'm on spring break and I'm going to go get drunk, something you shouldn't do but I'm going to go ignore my own advice, and then I'll try to knock this story off over break.


	9. Family

Second Chances

Disclaimer: I suffer from a severe lack of owning Kim Possible

Chapter Nine: Family

**-Two Months Later-**

Ron tugged nervously at the tie of his suit waiting to walk up to the altar and then wait for Bonnie to join him up there. Felix, his best man, Wade, Jim, and Tim were all standing beside him waiting to stand with him. Tara, Bonnie's maid of honor walked up to them on her way to grab Bonnie herself and gave them the once over.

"Looking good guys," she smiled, "see you up at the altar in a few minutes."

Ron looked over at Tara but was far too nervous to respond so Felix took it on himself to reply, "hey there gorgeous, we'll be waiting even if we have to tie Ron to the pulpit to keep him from running."

Tara giggled, pecked her husband on the cheek, and then walked off to make sure Bonnie was ready to go when it was time for her to walk down the aisle. Felix wheeled up next to Ron as he fidgeted with his tie once again.

"You doing alright?" Felix looked up at him, "don't need to run to the bathroom and revisit breakfast do you?"

"Didn't eat breakfast," Ron croaked out, "I would have never kept it down."

"Don't be so nervous," Felix laughed, "it's not like you're getting married."

"Oh ha ha," Ron's laugh was dry but the laughter from Wade, Jim, and Tim was quite genuine.

"Felix is right man," Wade walked up to him, "you go up there, we stand there and look good, Bonnie walks up, and if your eyes don't fall out of your head then before you know it it's over and you're married."

"Don't say that," Ron moaned, "Bonnie's going to walk out and I'm going to faint or something, then she's not going to want to marry me."

"Ron," Tim began.

"Do we need to sedate you?" Jim picked up.

"Or would you like us to use a mind control chip?" Tim went on.

"Either way," Jim continued.

"You're calming down," the Tweebs finished in unison.

"I'll be fine," Ron smiled nervously knowing the Tweebs were quite serious in their threats, "but don't we have to walk pretty soon."

All the men grumbled but got back in line and a few minutes later Felix's watch went off letting them know it was time to walk up to the altar. Ron led the way followed by Felix, Jim, Wade, and then Tim. The Tweebs had decided that to avoid confusion they'd have Wade between them and a coin toss had put Jim ahead of Wade and Tim behind. Walking up to the altar Ron kept his eyes mostly on his parents who were smiling brightly at him but he also looked a fair bit at Mrs. Dr. P. Kim's dad wasn't in the sanctuary since with Bonnie's father a no show he was walking her down the aisle.

It was a very long few minutes standing there staring at the sanctuary doors waiting for Bonnie to walk through. Just as Ron was ready to bolt down the aisle to try and find her, the doors opened and Tara, followed by Monique, Kim's cousin Joss, and his little sister Hana walked through followed by Bonnie herself with Mr. Dr. P. standing in for her missing father. Wade had probably been joking when he'd warned of Ron's eyes falling out of his head but as he saw Bonnie walking down the aisle Ron thought it was indeed a very real danger.

As the reverend worked his way though the ceremony Ron could barely tear his eyes away from Bonnie, all the words being spoken and the verses on the importance of marriage, all chosen from the Torah as one of the mix of Protestant and Jewish traditions being put together for the two, seemed to come from miles away. At last it was time to exchange the rings, Ron turned to Felix who had a smile on his face.

"Well seeing as how you haven't given me the ring yet I'd say it's a good thing this is only the last run through and not the real deal." Felix leaned back in his chair.

"Felix," Ron sighed, "can you please just act like you've got the ring? I'm nervous enough as it is."

"Relax dear," Bonnie walked over to him, "just remember to bring the ring to the last rehearsal dinner tomorrow and when we're really up here next week everything will go fine."

"Everything's not going to go fine!" Ron whined, "you're going to walk out in that dress of yours and I'm going to faint up here and then you're not going to want to marry me!"

A collective sigh sounded among everyone in the sanctuary at one of Ron's almost regular outbursts, everyone was well used to them by that point but there was an unsaid prayer among everyone involved with the wedding that during the actual ceremony Ron would be considerably calmer. Not that he'd been any different before marrying Kim but there are just some things that one never really desensitizes to.

"Daddy!" Samantha ran up in her flower girl dress, "little Ron made a mess."

Felix and Tara let out another sigh of their own and went off to decide who would have to change a diaper. It was one of their great points of envy towards Ron and Bonnie that as Samantha worked on potty training messes were becoming a rarer and rarer occurrence.

"So," Ron said to Bonnie as they sat down in a pew, "you're getting your last dress fitting today?"

"Yeah," Bonnie replied, "taking it home with me actually, but you still don't get to see it till the wedding."

"I know I know," Ron smiled, "you want me to take Samantha with me? I'm just going into the restaurant to get all the paperwork done so we can have our honeymoon off without any distractions."

"Sounds good to me," Bonnie kicked off her heels, "she'll get bored with both of us, at least you have things to occupy her over there. I'll be done before you though so I'll swing by on my way home to pick her up."

Ron grabbed Samantha from where her grandparents were doing their considerable best to spoil her and after a quick goodbye to Bonnie he drove over to his restaurant. Ron made his way through the kitchens before heading up to his office; Samantha was as usual a little angel to the staff and was immensely popular among them. Ron never failed to wonder how it was that in public his daughter could be the picture of childlike innocence but at home when it was just him and Bonnie she made terrible two's into an understatement. Walking up the stairs he couldn't help wondering if it came from his or Kim's side of the family, or perhaps if she was somehow absorbing traits from Bonnie after so much time around her.

"Hey Mr. S," Charlie poked his head in about fifteen minutes after Ron had settled down to work, "we were just wondering if for the reception, you want us to funnel everything through you or Mr. Renton."

"Felix probably wants it to go through him," Ron looked up from the paperwork, "best man pride and all that, but if you think I need to take a look at it then send it on over."

"Will do," Charlie said, "and has anyone ever said that Samantha really has Kim's eyes? It's almost eerie at times."

"Yeah," Ron sighed, "every time her grandparents come over they point that out."

Charlie went back downstairs after that and Ron settled back in to work on all the paperwork he had left, maybe if he finished fast enough he'd have some time in the kitchen after Bonnie came and picked up Samantha.

"Daddy," Samantha said a few minutes later, "who's Kim?"

Ron slowly put down his pen and looked over at Samantha who was standing to the side of his desk looking up at him. He scooted his chair back and motioned for her to walk over to him, when she got close enough Ron scooped her up and sat her down in his lap.

"Kim," he said at last, "was someone who knew you before you were born. And she was also someone who loved you very much, a lot like your mom actually."

"Oh," Samantha looked up at him, "can I meet her?"

"Sorry kiddo but no can do," Ron smiled sadly, "Kim had to go away from here and be with God and the angels."

"When will she come back?" Samantha had a look of total innocence on her face.

"Not for a long long time," Ron hugged her, "but when you're a bit older your mommy and I will tell you all about her."

"Why not now?" Even at two years old Samantha's puppy dog pout was formidable and Ron was only able to resist it from years of experience.

"Well you're not old enough yet," Ron said for what would likely be the first time of many, "and it's something your mom should be there for too."

Samantha looked like she wanted to keep going but at that point a whole day of running around a wedding rehearsal caught up with her and she rapidly drifted off in Ron's lap leaving him to finish up most of the rest of his paperwork over the next half hour.

"Hey Ron," Ron looked up and smiled as he saw Bonnie walk into his office, "everything alright over here?"

"Pretty much," Ron got up to give her a quick kiss, "she's all tired out now but she was asking about Kim before that."

"Was she?" Bonnie looked down at Samantha sleeping, "and you told her?"

"That she's not old enough yet," Ron said, "I think she'll be ready when she turns three or four."

"We'll talk about it more after the wedding," Bonnie sighed, "but you're right that we're going to have to tell her sooner than later."

Bonnie picked Samantha up, gently so not to wake her, and after another quick kiss she left to take her home. Ron worked for about ten more minutes getting the last of his paperwork done and everything organized. He was just about to shut everything down when a knock sounded at the door, Ron was entirely ready for a walking conversation but as he looked up he quickly abandoned all hope of working in the kitchen before heading home.

"Hello Mr. Rockwaller," Ron said, "is there anything I can do for you?"

"Mr. Stoppable," Bonnie's father walked into the room, "I think we both know what you can do for me but the question is will you do it?"

"Not marry Bonnie," Ron sat back down in his chair, "I think we both know my answer to your question."

"I know I can't stop Bonnie from going through with this," Mr. Rockwaller sighed, "but I hope you're intelligent enough to take me up on this offer. I'll give you a hundred thousand dollars to not marry my daughter."

Ron's response was instant, "I'll give you a million dollars if you promise to let me marry her without any interference."

Bonnie's father just stared at him as though trying to decide if he was actually being serious.

"I'm entirely serious Mr. Rockwaller," Ron went on, "you tell me what I have to do to make it clear that I love Bonnie and want to spend the rest of my life with her and I'll find a way to do it."

"I'm afraid you simply don't understand me," Mr. Rockwaller glared at him, "Bonnie and you aren't the same type of people. And I don't mean the fact that you're Jewish, I couldn't care less about that. Bonnie was born into a different type of life than you, I'm not quite sure how to put it in modern terms but I think I've got something you'll understand. If this was three hundred years ago Bonnie would be a noblewoman and you would be a peasant who somehow achieved a measure of success. You would both still be from different worlds and you'd never be truly happy together."

"Sir," Ron said as respectfully as he could, "I would never presume to speak for Bonnie but I think I've gotten to know her pretty well after two years and I can honestly say that she seems much happier now then she was when I walked into her on that sidewalk. I know that for my part when Kim died it was only my little girl who kept me going but since Bonnie came into my life it feels like I can live for what I want to do again. If you haven't already guessed I'm not at all interested in marrying her for any money, and no offense but your 'different worlds' things sound a lot like the food chain and I never cared about that. I want to marry Bonnie because I love her and I want the chance to do that forever, and for no other reasons."

"Well," Mr. Rockwaller crossed his arms, "you certainly have improved your sorely limited vocabulary since we last spoke. I however remain unimpressed by you. I didn't like you when we first spoke, if you had come to me when you started looking for a ring to ask for my daughter's hand in marriage I would have refused you my blessing, and there is nothing you can say or do here that would make me change my mind on that."

"I'll admit that I would have preferred to propose to Bonnie with your blessing," Ron leaned back, "but I wasn't expecting I would get it, I've known you didn't approve of me and Bonnie since the first time we spoke. I'd ask you to tell me what you want for Bonnie but I already know that you want what I can't be, old money."

Mr. Rockwaller's tone was imperious, "If by 'old money' you mean someone who has taken the time to build a respectable reputation for himself and his family then by all means that is what I want for Bonnie. The Rockwaller family has traditions and a reputation to maintain and I care too much for my little girl to let someone like you into her life."

"If you don't mind my asking," Ron kept his tone very even, "why exactly are you here Mr. Rockwaller"

"I had hoped to talk you back to your senses," Mr. Rockwaller sighed, "but it has become obvious that such a feat is impossible. I love my daughter enough that I won't disrupt this charade of yours, but don't expect any invitations to family reunions, or for my family to consider your daughter a grandchild of our own."

"I don't mean any offense by this but if you take any then that's that." Ron said, "With what I've learned about your family I'll choose to take being considered a black sheep as a compliment."

Mr. Rockwaller stood up, "There's nothing more I believe we can accomplish here, I can only hope Bonnie realizes what a mistake marrying you would be before it's too late."

Ron watched as Bonnie's father walked to the door, as he opened it and was about to leave Ron stood up and said one last thing, "I doubt it changes anything but for what it's worth Bonnie means more than life itself to me and I would never ever do anything to hurt her."

Mr. Rockwaller turned and looked like he had a response on his lips but after several long seconds of staring at Ron he turned and walked out of the office.

**-One Hour Earlier-**

After Ron left with Samantha, Bonnie spent a few more minutes with everyone fine tuning a few details for the last dinner tomorrow night. She could have been out of the church a fair bit faster than she actually was but knowing that she had to go to her last dress fitting she took her sweet time. After about ten minutes though she had exhausted all her time wasting measures and had to go to the dress fitting. Fortunately the dress shop was only five minutes or so from the church so she didn't have to spend any great amount of time dreading on her way there. The midsize dress shop was certainly a nice one but a far cry from the near army of designers her family had brought in for her dress when she married Josh.

Come to think about it just about everything about this entire wedding was different from when she married Josh, and as far as Bonnie could tell all those differences were for the better. The only major similarity was that Tara was once again her maid of honor and that she wouldn't change for the world. Other than that though it was a smaller, simpler, and far more enjoyable wedding. Not least because she was getting married for the sole reason that she wanted to and not because of her parents applying a fair bit of pressure.

About fifteen minutes later, getting towards the end of the process, Tara walked into the store changed from the dress she'd worn to the wedding rehearsal to a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt.

"Hey Bonnie," she walked up to her best friend, "having fun?"

Bonnie adopted a light glare, "you're just saying that because I can't move with all these pins stuck in this dress."

"True," Tara smiled, "but you look far less unhappy then you were last time you went through this with your mom and her whole dress making squad."

"Don't remind me," Bonnie laughed, "I just wanted to get out of that frilly monstrosity as fast as possible."

Tara quickly walked around her looking at her dress, "I think this dress is neither frilly nor a monstrosity, but once you're alone with Ron you'll want to get out of everything plenty fast."

"Tara!" Bonnie squeaked, "not in public okay? But I look alright in this dress, no second thoughts seeing it now?"

"None," Tara smiled, "you look beautiful in that dress, Ron's not going to hear a word at the ceremony he'll be so busy staring at you."

"Thanks," Bonnie returned the smile, "I'm not going to suffer a mutiny over the bridesmaids dresses am I?"

"Of course not," Tara giggled, "they look great. I was tempted to mutiny over those dresses your mom had made when you got married to Josh but my thanks to whoever made sure you didn't inherit her fashion sense."

"I'm not sure who to thank myself," Bonnie chuckled, "but I'm just as glad as you are that fashion sense is just one of the many things I don't have in common with anyone with my last name."

"Well you're not going to have the same last name as them in just over a week," Tara's smile grew, "have you wrapped your mind around Bonnie Stoppable yet?"

Bonnie felt her own smile grow to match, "for awhile now, I've had to stop myself from signing it when I use my credit card more than a few times since Ron proposed. It sure sounds a lot better then tacking Mankey on the back of my name. I should have listened to Ron with his whole one vowel away from monkey conspiracy."

"Better late than never," Tara said with mock seriousness, "so is anyone in your family coming or are they doing a total cold shoulder?"

"If any of them are coming they've given no sign," Bonnie said, "and frankly I'm perfectly fine with that."

"I'm entirely okay with your sisters not showing," Tara idly tapped her foot, "but you'd think your parents could at least come to their own daughter's wedding."

"Oh they'd show," Bonnie scowled, "as long as I was marrying someone who fit in their nice little five by five two or three centuries gone by view of the world. Plus if they show I'm worried about them speaking up when Rabbi Katz asks for any objections, so I think I'll be fine with them not gracing the event with their presence."

"Don't worry about it," Tara had a smile back on her face, "you're a lot bigger than a five by five world and your parents aren't that big a deal. Ron's parents, Kim's parents, me, Felix, all sorts of people are behind you and Ron all the way."

"I know," Bonnie smiled, "but why does this sound like the talk you're supposed to give me right before the wedding and why are we doing it here?"

"Not all of it but part," Tara giggled, "I wanted to get as much of it done as I could now since we'll undoubtedly be too busy on the wedding day for something this long, or you're too nervous, or something like that."

"I'll be perfectly calm waiting to walk down the aisle," Bonnie scoffed, "but thanks for the thought anyways."

"Come on," Tara laughed, "this is part of the best friend maid of honor duties; it's in the handbook they give you. But I've got to get running, Felix and I are trying to work out the last of our speeches for the reception and you're not going to hear anything tomorrow but we want it done by then."

Bonnie and Tara said their goodbyes and Tara walked out of the store. Not too many minutes later the last adjustments to Bonnie's dress were done and she gratefully took it off and had it put in the very large plastic bag that would be its home for the next week. Bonnie put the plastic bag in her trunk and hopped in the car, a fifteen minute drive to the restaurant later she got out and walked inside. There were a few people in the back room and Bonnie waved to them before walking up the stairs, she opened the door and walked in.

"Hey Ron," Bonnie smiled as she walked into the office, "everything alright over here?"

"Pretty much," Ron got up to give her a quick kiss, "she's all tired out now but she was asking about Kim before that."

"Was she?" Bonnie looked down at Samantha sleeping, "and you told her?"

"That she's not old enough yet," Ron said, "I think she'll be ready when she turns three or four."

"We'll talk about it more after the wedding," Bonnie sighed, "but you're right that we're going to have to tell her sooner than later."

Bonnie picked Samantha up, gently so not to wake her, and after another quick kiss she left to take her home. Samantha slept through being put in her car seat and the whole way home only stirring as Bonnie pulled into their neighborhood. As she turned the corner onto her and Ron's streets Bonnie let out a deep sigh, in front of their house were enough limos to hold her entire family, and it looked like they were all standing outside waiting for her return. Bonnie pulled into the driveway, forcing several aunts and uncles to ungracefully step aside, and after motioning for Samantha to stay in her seat she got out of the car.

"Mother," Bonnie said coldly as her mother walked up, "to what do I owe the agonizing suffering of this visit?"

"Bon-Bon!" Her mother wrapped her in a hug that Bonnie quickly twisted out of with a scowl, "we're here to save you from this hovel you've been stuck in for far too long, now get your things so we can give you a healthy dose of civilization."

"What?" Bonnie said in mild disbelief, "Run that by me again would you?"

"Your father and I don't at all approve of this marriage," her mother sighed, "that should be all we need to say about that."

Bonnie thought for a second and then did something she'd never done before, she simply brushed her mother off, "Okay."

"Excellent," her mother squealed, "we'll have all your things out in fifteen minutes and we can get out of this horrible place."

"No," Bonnie stopped walking, "I mean okay you don't approve of my marrying Ron, that's nice. Now if you're not here for anything important could you please stop blocking my driveway?"

Bonnie's calm attitude seemed to shock her mother far more than anger ever did, "I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying that you're not coming with us?"

"Yeah," Bonnie maintained her cool, "I'm going to go inside, hang up my wedding dress, and then after I put my daughter in bed for her nap I'm going to take a nice relaxing shower. Sorry you wasted all the time to come here but if you leave now you can still beat rush hour."

The sight of her extended family gaping like fish was immensely satisfying to Bonnie, but predictably enough her sisters had to take their turn trying to bring her down.

"You can't think we're going to miss this," Connie sneered.

"Yeah, we're going to be there to laugh when you fall flat on your face," Lonnie matched the look.

"And we will so object to you marrying that loser just to see the look on your face," they finished as one.

"You can try," Bonnie's voice was velvet covered steel, "but Jim and Tim said that they're going to put mind control chips on anyone who gets out of line and after the ceremony they're going to have them march down the street ahead of the limo acting like farm animals and then they'll put the video up on the internet."

The sight of her sisters going ghostly pale was even more gratifying and Bonnie had a big smile on her face as she spoke, "so is there anything else while we're all here? Where's dad, he hasn't had his say yet."

Her mother seemed to recover somewhat, "your father is trying to talk some sense into that Ronald. I expect his call any minute that this travesty is finished with."

"Nah," Bonnie felt no doubt whatsoever that Ron would ignore her parent's disapproval just as much as she was.

Bonnie walked around to her trunk and pulled out her wedding dress, the snort of disgust from her family let her know that she had indeed picked the right dress. Then she opened the back door and got Samantha out of the car.

"Mommy," Samantha looked up at her from where she was standing, "who are they."

"No one important," Bonnie smiled down at her, "come on, I'll let you have a cookie before your nap."

Bribery was all that Bonnie needed to get Samantha to happily walk beside her and they walked into their house with Bonnie's family staring on in disgust and near horror. Both things Bonnie would never get enough of seeing on the faces of her relatives.

**-The Next Night-**

"I just want to make sure," Felix held up his hands, "I'm supposed to give a speech at some point right?"

"And just to make sure," Tara stood up, "I've got to say something too, yes?"

Everyone laughed at Felix and Tara's attempt at humor, everyone except Ron and Bonnie.

"They're mocking us aren't they?" Ron leaned in to whisper to Bonnie.

"I'm pretty sure it's more mocking you," Bonnie whispered back, "you were the one who was so nervous you forgot your speech when you proposed to me."

"That's harsh," Ron grinned, "you did say yes when I proposed so you get an equal share of the mocking."

"Nah," Bonnie smiled, "you're the big strong man and I'm your helpless damsel in distress, you have to take all the mocking to save poor little me."

"No way," Ron chuckled, "every time I ever saved you from some random freak, and there were quite a few times, you were anything but in distress."

"Oh no," Bonnie stuck her lower lip out, "I might have been all calm on the outside but I was a damsel in distress on the inside and now I'm telling you I need you to throw yourself in the path of all this mocking and save me."

"Not going to happen, I have a resistance to the puppy dog pout." Ron said resolutely.

Bonnie kept her lower lip stuck out and went doe eyed.

"Still not going to happen," Ron thumped his chest, "anyone else you'd have them but not me."

Bonnie's eyes began to sparkle with tears.

"No," Ron's resolve visibly weakened, "equal shares of mocking."

Bonnie stepped her puppy dog pout up all the way as her lower lip started quivering.

"I'll do it I'll do it," Ron buried his face in his hands as he fell victim to the puppy dog pout, "what is it with every woman I know having stages to the puppy dog pout that just break you down?"

"You're just lucky I guess," Bonnie leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey you two," Ron and Bonnie looked over to see Felix wheeling up to them, "getting an early start on your wedding night?"

"Nah," Ron waved the joke off, "if we were you'd be telling us to get a room right now."

"Don't think I'm not tempted," Felix smirked, "anyways I came over here to let you guys know that everyone is starting to clean up."

"Thanks," Bonnie said as she stood up, "I have to go take care of something really quick I'll be back in a bit."

"So," Felix wheeled next to his friend, "you going to give me the ring yet?"

"Yeah," Ron reached into his pocket, "just didn't want Bonnie seeing it, a little revenge for her not letting me seeing her wedding dress."

Felix laughed and reached out to take the ring, just as he grabbed it they were interrupted by a small voice, "Daddy, I'm tired."

Ron looked back and down to see Samantha standing there rubbing her eyes sleepily, "It's alright," he reached down and picked her up, "we'll go home in just a bit and you can get some sleep."

"Don' wanna sleep," Samantha said, her automatic reaction to do the opposite of whatever her parents told her lessened by her fatigue.

Ron just laughed softly and let his daughter's head slowly drift onto his shoulder as she fell asleep.

Meanwhile Bonnie walked over to where Kim's parents were making a last run over of the seating chart.

"Hi, can I ask you a question Mr. Possible?" Bonnie said.

"Sure," Mr. Possible looked up from the seating chart.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind walking me down the aisle." Bonnie nervously tapped her foot.

"Okay," Kim's dad sounded like he wasn't sure entirely what she was asking, "I didn't know there were any more rehearsals though."

"Not at any rehearsals," Bonnie stopped tapping her foot, "I mean walk me down the aisle at the wedding."

"And what about your father?" Mr. Possible asked, "Isn't he coming to do that?"

"Not if his talk with Ron was any indication," Bonnie sighed, "I should be thankful they haven't disowned me."

Mr. Possible smiled at her, "well in that case I'd be honored, Ron's always been like a son to us and helping you two get married would be fantastic."

"Thanks," Bonnie smiled, "I suppose you can forego the pre wedding chat with Ron in that case."

"Nonsense," Mr. Possible laughed, "I came up with some great threats after the chat before he married Kimmie, another chance to scare a boy half to death isn't something I'm going to pass up."

Bonnie laughed and walked away to head home with Ron, the last sound she paid attention to was Mrs. Possible hitting her husband upside the head.

AN: Wow, only one chapter left after this one how the time flies. Yes I'm evil for that stunt at the beginning of the chapter but I do hope I made it up to all of you with the rest of it. Progress was good over break and I'm actually well into chapter ten but it's a busy week next week so I'll hold on to it to ensure you an update next Friday. Anywho, I think you'll all agree that I'm finally giving you that happy ending I promised way back when. So please mob gathered outside my door disperse or at least go bug someone else.


	10. A Second Chance

Second Chances

Disclaimer: For the last time this story, I don't own Kim Possible

Chapter Ten: A Second Chance

**-Ron and Bonnie's wedding day (the real one)-**

"Felix you have the ring right?" Ron asked.

"Ron," Felix grumbled, "if you ask me that one more time this wedding is going to have to be put off until you get out of the hospital."

"I just want to make sure," Ron moaned, "if I'm up there and Bonnie has my ring and I don't have hers she'll never want anything to do with me ever again."

"I know you don't want anything to go wrong," Felix's tone softened, "but this is the eighth time you've asked me if I have the ring for Bonnie in the last hour."

"It's already been an hour?" Ron nearly wailed, "I don't have nearly everything done, and the wedding won't be perfect and Bonnie's going to storm out and I'll never see her for as long as I live."

"What do you still have to do," Felix asked dryly, "all you have left is to have your chat with the bride's father and with Kim's dad standing in for that you know what it's going to be like. Then it's just stand up there and get married. Before you know it you and Bonnie will be getting on the plane to wherever you're going on your honeymoon, and are you ever going to tell anyone where it is?"

"I will eventually," Ron seemed to calm down a bit, "Wade knows since he set the whole thing up but he's not telling anyone until I do."

"Speaking of Wade," Felix looked around, "where is he, and where are Jim and Tim for that matter?"

"Wade's doing some last minute stuff with the sound system I think," Ron rubbed at his chin, "and the twins are out front making sure everyone is behaving themselves."

"Everyone being Bonnie's sisters," Felix smirked, "well I better go get them back here or they'll still be working when they're supposed to be walking up with you."

Felix wheeled out of the room and Ron started anxiously pacing around the room. He really shouldn't have been nervous, he and Bonnie had lived together for the better part of two years, been a couple for nearly half a year, and even before they'd started dating had been confused for a married couple so often they'd stopped correcting people on it because they were sick and tired of saying the same thing over and over. And yet despite the fact that he and Bonnie had already done everything married couples did Ron was still nervous at the idea of actually marrying her despite wanting to spend the rest of his life with her as a family.

A knock sounded on his door and Ron walked over to open it. In the doorway were his and Kim's dads, both dressed up for the wedding and both wearing very fatherly smiles. He brought them into the waiting room, really more a closet with some chairs in it, and they sat down.

"Feeling nervous?" His dad had a small smile on his face.

"Yeah," Ron squeaked, "just a little."

"Don't be," his dad said, "you'll get through your pre wedding chat just fine and then once you're up there it will hit you how much you love Bonnie and everything will be perfect."

His dad got up and walked out of the room to go sit with his mom in the sanctuary. With Bonnie's father a no-show and Kim's dad selected as the one to walk Bonnie down the aisle Ron once again found himself sitting across from Mr. Dr. P. as the father of the bride.

"So Ronald," Mr. Dr. P. laced his fingers together, "here we are again."

"You're not going to threaten to shoot me into a black hole again are you?" Ron whimpered.

"Oh no," Mr. Dr. P. laughed, "That threat was just for Kimmie. But don't think you're off the hook, Bonnie is a very nice young woman and if you break her heart there's a one way trip on a space probe to a forming star."

"That doesn't sound that bad," Ron smiled nervously.

"Think tens of millions of degrees," Mr. Dr. P. gave him what Ron had come to term the black hole glare, "with enough radiation to make anything well done and enough pressure to compress you into a pinprick."

"Got it," Ron gulped, "no heart breaking."

"Ah but we all know you won't do anything like that," Mr. Dr. P. smiled, "Bonnie's your second chance that most people don't get and you're too smart to do anything to risk losing that. Just make sure that everything you do with Bonnie you do because you love her and there's nothing you can do that won't make all of us proud. I'll give you the same advice I gave you before, relax once you get up there and everything will be fine. It's still going to take a lot of work but this is the happily ever after you've been working for your whole life. And not to put any pressure on you or anything but if you and Bonnie have any children, we've always thought of you like a son and we'd be happy to think of your and Bonnie's children as more grandchildren."

"Uh thanks Mr. Dr. P." Ron finally had a genuine smile on his face, "I'll do my best."

"Of course you will Ronald," Mr. Dr. P. stood up and stuck out his hand for Ron to shake, "now I have to go get Bonnie, you should be heading on your own way."

Kim's dad walked out of the room and Ron sat back down with a sigh. The encouragement had helped him a bit with his nervousness but he was still constantly glancing at the clock in the room watching the seconds and minutes tick by. Ron had just gotten up and was about to start pacing when Jim and Tim knocked and walked into the room.

"Hey Ron," Tim started.

"Good to see you're up," Jim continued

"We've got to walk in five minutes," they finished in unison.

They walked out of the room and started for the sanctuary with the twins leading the way. On the way they passed a window where the sun was streaming through and created a ray of light amid the floating dust. Looking into the light Ron jerked to a halt and it felt like his heart stopped for a few beats. There in the light Ron could have sworn he saw a ghostly Kim standing there looking angelic and smiling at him as if to congratulate him for finding happiness and not being lonely till he was old and grey.

"Ron, you okay?" Jim and Tim stopped and turned around.

"Yeah," Ron started out of his reverie, "just… uh… nothing, let's get going. Bonnie would kill me if I'm late to my own wedding."

The twins shared a look but turned back around and walked on. Behind them Ron felt a small smile grow on his face and deep inside he could feel that wherever she was Kim was happy for him and Bonnie, and with that went the last tiny doubts he had about what he was about to do.

They got up to the doors and waiting there were Felix and Wade, they smiled at Ron and surprisingly his return smile was devoid of any nervousness.

"You're looking a lot better than usual," Felix said.

"Yeah, no nervousness, not panicking, who are you and what have you done with Ron?" Wade laughed.

"I'm still me," Ron grinned, "I just finally figured out that everything is going to go fine."

"And how'd you go from asking if I have the ring eight times in an hour to this?" Felix raised an eyebrow.

Ron smiled brightly, "Let's just say I'm pretty sure Bonnie and I have a guardian angel who's looking out for us."

"Sure," Wade said slowly, "you're not having some sort of nervous breakdown are you Ron?"

"Nope," Ron said cheerfully, "it's all Zen calm for the Ronster with one bon diggety babe coming down the aisle at the end."

"It's about time you came around," Felix smiled, "now would you mind coming around and telling us where you and Bonnie are going on your honeymoon?"

"Okay," Ron sighed, "just to make you suffer through wanting to ask more about it while you can't. Think two tickets to the Swiss Alps, we're leaving Samantha with her grandparents, and we spend the new years sipping champagne in a chalet and skiing down to the lodge for dinner."

"Good idea," Felix smirked, "but the way you just described it skiing down to the lodge would be the only time you and Bonnie would get out of your hotel room if you get what I mean."

"It's entirely possible," Ron smiled, "now who wants to go get me married?"

After a round of laughs and back slapping they opened the doors and started the march to Ron's fate. Though the room was much fuller than it had ever been Ron still fixed most of his attention on his parents smiling at him. After that was Mrs. Dr. P. sitting over on the bride's side, what surprised him was that Bonnie's sisters were sitting right by her, and more than that was the fact that they were sitting perfectly quiet with not a sign of a smirk on their faces. He could have also sworn he'd seen Bonnie's mother in the crowd but they made it up to the altar and all his attention was focused on the doors.

It was a very long few minutes up at the altar waiting for Bonnie, Rabbit Katz smiled at Ron in an effort to reassure him but before Ron could respond the Wedding March started playing and Ron turned to look as the doors opened.

**-Meanwhile-**

Bonnie stood there quietly while Kim and Ron's moms pulled at and straightened all the little wrinkles in her dress. The mothering she was getting, as annoying as it could be, was a welcome annoyance after twenty-odd years of her family. Not to mention that it was a far cry, in a good way, from the army of dress makers her mother had hired. Add that to her much more practical wedding dress and this was a far more pleasant wait before the walk down the aisle than her one wedding before had been.

Her absolute favorite thing though was that Mrs. Possible and Mrs. Stoppable didn't have the crazy idea that she had to be in her heels waiting to walk. So even though it was still a bit irksome to have to stand for as long as she'd had to it was infinitely better than doing so in heels.

Maybe that was her second favorite thing, her real favorite thing was that she was getting married solely because she wanted to and her parents had nothing to do with her marrying Ron. Well nothing positive anyway, but their trying to interfere with her and Ron was just another plus as far as Bonnie was concerned.

Still though Bonnie would have given a great deal to be able to sit down since even without heels standing for as long as she'd been standing was something she could go a long while without doing again. Not that she thought it wasn't worth it or anything, she would have stood in heels three times as long if it meant getting to where she was. And when Bonnie thought of all she and Ron had gone through to get to where they were perhaps the short standing time in no heels was a sort of small reward.

Outside Bonnie heard a snicker of laughter and she looked on with a grimace on her face as her sisters walked into the room.

"I can't believe you're really going through with this," Connie sneered.

"Yeah, one looser marrying another," Lonnie matched the look.

"To be fair we always expected this from you," Connie went on.

Lonnie didn't miss a beat, "but marrying that looser in that dress in this dump, ugh it is everything we always expected you to not amount to."

"Just want you to know we're not going to do anything about it," Connie continued, "we're sure you'll screw this up just like everything else you do."

Bonnie didn't even spare her sisters a glance, she was determined to not let them ruin what she was going to make sure was one of the happiest days of her life.

"Girls," Mrs. Dr. P. walked over to Connie and Lonnie with a very grim look on her face, "can I have a word with you out in the hall?"

Connie and Lonnie turned with condescending looks on their faces but one look at Mrs. Dr. P's. face and they walked meekly behind her out into the hall.

"How'd she do that," Bonnie turned to Ron's mom, "and how can I learn it?"

"You're already learning how to do it," Ron's mom smiled, "just something you pick up over the course of raising a child. But what she's saying to your sisters out there, I have no idea and I'd certainly never want to be on the receiving end of one of those talks. Now I think you're ready and absolutely beautiful, my son won't be able to take his eyes off of you. So I'm going to go out to the sanctuary and get my seat since I'd rather not miss a thing."

Mrs. Stoppable walked out of the room and Bonnie stood there for a few minutes relishing in the calm moment in the midst of all the rushing about she'd done earlier that day.

"Bonnie!" Bonnie looked over as Tara walked into the room, "I take back what I said in the dress shop, now you really look beautiful."

"Thanks," Bonnie smiled, "you don't look half bad yourself. How'd Felix ever let you out of the house?"

"I changed over here," Tara grinned, "but I saw Kim's mom talking to your sisters at the end of the hall on my way over here, what's going on?"

"That," Bonnie sighed, "Connie and Lonnie came in here and were their normal charming selves so Mrs. Possible took them out into the hall to talk with them. What she's saying to them neither I nor Ron's mom have any idea and I think she's right that I don't want to know what she's saying."

"Ah," Tara glanced over at the door, "well whatever they said don't let it get to you. You're almost glowing with how good you look today, you and Ron are perfect for each other, and you'll still be just as happy together when you're both old and grey."

"I was ignoring them," Bonnie said, "but thanks anyways. Where's everyone else?"

"They're all giving themselves one last look over," Tara gestured over her shoulder, "I figured I'd use the chance to come see how you were doing in here."

Before Bonnie could respond Mrs. Dr. P. walked into the room followed by her sisters.

"I think your sisters have something to say to you," Kim's mom glared at them.

"Bonnie," Connie and Lonnie said in unison, "we just want you to know that we're wishing all the best for you today."

After that they hurriedly scampered out of the room. Kim's mom followed them out shortly thereafter to get to her seat and make sure that Bonnie's sisters kept up their good behavior.

Tara worked her way through her maid of honor pre wedding talk, which did top her effort at the dress store, for five minutes until the door opened again and Mr. Dr. P. walked in with a smile on his face.

"Hello ladies," he straightened his bowtie, "you both look fantastic."

"Thanks," Tara smiled, "I think that's everything Bonnie now I'd better be going to get everyone ready to go."

Bonnie finally put on her heels after Tara left and then looked up at Kim's dad, "Thanks from me too, my father never said anything to me when came to walk me down the aisle."

"Nonsense," Kim's dad said, "it's nothing special to say. That's a beautiful dress you're wearing and what woman doesn't look beautiful on her wedding day."

Bonnie blushed lightly and looked down, "you um didn't scare Ron too much did you?"

"Of course not," Mr. Dr. P. laughed, "I made it clear to him that it would be in his best interest to keep you happy. But he already knows that and I made sure he knows I have all the faith in the world that he'll do everything he can to make you the happiest woman alive."

"He's already done a great job of that," Bonnie smiled, "I'm more worried that I'll end up letting him down. I was so terrible to him in high school and then he's been nothing but kind to me and I keep thinking that I'm not doing enough to make Ron happy."

"Oh you've done plenty for Ron," Mr. Dr. P. smiled back, "after Kim died he was just going through the motions of living and ever since you moved in with him it's been every day he's a bit more like his old self until by now he's just as happy as he ever was. Now I think Ron's waited at the end of the aisle long enough, let's go walk down it."

Bonnie's smile softened and she walked out of the door, she and Kim's dad started walking down the hall, about halfway there they ran into Tara who was on her way to get Bonnie. The blonde fell into line with them as they kept going and the walk continued almost uninterrupted. Towards the end they passed a single window that had a ray of sunlight that streamed through it and illuminated all the dust in the air so it glowed. In the ray of light Bonnie saw something that made her remember a conversation she'd had in a dream the better part of a year ago. In that ray of light stood Kim, she was smiling grandly at her and the look in those familiar green eyes seemed to say how happy she was that Ron and her were getting a second chance at happiness together.

"Bonnie," Tara said over her shoulder, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Bonnie smiled at her, "just had my last few doubts put to rest."

That was that and they finished the rest of the walk in silence, once ready at the door Tara smiled brightly as she handed Bonnie her bouquet and all her bridesmaids looked ready to wow the crowds with how good they all looked.

"Hello Bonnie," Bonnie turned and her jaw dropped as she saw her father standing there in a tuxedo.

Bonnie opened and closed her mouth several times trying to speak but her best effort only produced a choking sound vaguely resembling the word 'what.'

"I still don't approve of Stoppable, or you marrying him," her father said, "but I'm your father and every father has a duty to walk his little girl down the aisle."

Bonnie spared a glance back to Mr. Dr. P. who smiled and said, "I'll slip in the side of the sanctuary and watch, it would have been an honor to stand in for your father but he's right that every man wants to walk his little girl down the aisle even if we threaten to send the boy into deep space."

Kim's dad walked off quickly to slip in the side and hopefully remain unnoticed until Bonnie was down the aisle. Back at the doors Bonnie looked up at her father and for the first time in more than a few years had no scathing remark coming out of her mouth.

"You do look absolutely beautiful even so," Her father kissed her on the cheek and pulled her veil up over her face before letting her arm slip into his and giving the signal to Tara who stepped forward as the Wedding March started and the doors opened.

**-Thirteen Years Later-**

"Tweebs!" The cry came from the bathroom followed shortly by a fifteen year old Samantha, or as she preferred to be called Sam Stoppable.

"How many times," the blonde haired girl shouted, "do I have to tell you not to turn my hairspray into rocket fuel?!"

"Uh oh," her twin brothers said together before dashing off for their room.

"Arrgh," Sam grumbled as her frizzy mass of blonde hair trailed behind her, "you can't hide in there forever, Jim, Tim, come out!"

Now the story of how Jim and Tim Stoppable got their names could be a whole new story unto itself but the basics can be understood in far fewer words.

A few years after they were married Bonnie had walked in on Ron and said that they were indeed going to have a bundle of joy in nine months. Of course a pregnant Bonnie caused no end of problems for Ron but he loved his wife more than enough to put up with it and be as supportive as he could be.

Nine months later Ron was surprisingly more collected when Bonnie told him it was time, probably since he had to stay calm for Sam's sake. At the couple's request Mrs. Dr. P. had once again been there to help with the delivery and thankfully everything had gone just as expected but for one thing, instead of one baby as the ultrasound had indicated Bonnie had had twins.

All this had been incredibly hilarious to Mrs. Dr. P. and when she had come out to tell Ron that he was not only a father but that everything had gone fine she had been laughing so hard she was crying. Given what had happened with Kim it was understandable that Ron took her tears of mirth to mean something else entirely. Being unable to get any words out Mrs. Dr. P. had simply gestured for Ron to go into the maternity ward. One mad dash later Ron burst through the doors to find Bonnie fine if exhausted and that she was holding not one baby but two.

Having given no thought whatsoever to any twin names and in the midst of an emotional roller coaster from panicking that Bonnie was dead and then finding out that not only was she fine but they now had twins when the nurse asked him if he had any names Ron had blurted out the only twin names he was familiar with.

Unfortunately Jim and Tim had taken after their namesakes and had given their parents and older sister no end of headaches over the years with the gadgets they made from household items and the parts their grandfather and uncles brought from their work. Mr. Dr. P. had been right though, until the very end Ron had been so busy keeping Sam from bouncing off the walls with boredom that he hadn't had time to be nervous at all.

Back in the Stoppable residence Bonnie Stoppable walked up the stairs to see what the fuss between her kids was and found her daughter standing angrily in the hallway with her normally well done hair in a frizzy mess.

"Sam," Bonnie put a hand on her shoulder, "what's wrong?"

"Jim and Tim turned my hairspray into rocket fuel," and then turning to face her brother's door, "and I'm going to get them for it!"

Bonnie sighed, "Jim, Tim, no turning your sister's hairspray into rocket fuel. If you need parts for anything you can call your grandfather and he'll mail it over from the space center. And Sam you know that we have plenty of hairspray in the closet."

"Right," Sam said sheepishly, "well I've got to get ready, Ron and I are heading over to Bueno Nacho in an hour."

Bonnie let out a sigh as her daughter grabbed the bottle of hairspray in her hand and ran back into the bathroom. She walked back down the stairs and followed her nose to the delicious smells coming from the kitchen.

"So what was the major crisis this time?" Ron turned from the sauce he was making on the oven, "Twins try to open a black hole? Launch Sam's shoe closet into orbit?"

"Nope," Bonnie walked up to him, "hairspray turned into rocket fuel."

"Ah," Ron said, "that's what, third time this month they've done that?"

"Yep," Bonnie quickly counted in her head, "and Sam's going to Bueno Nacho with Ron tonight so watch how much you cook."

"Aw," Ron pouted, "but I just can't help myself in this bon diggety new kitchen."

"Ron," Bonnie laughed softly, "we moved into this house eleven years ago, it's not a new kitchen anymore."

"It is still bon diggety though," Ron smiled at his wife, "and so is the company."

"I recognize the flattery card when it's used on me Ron Stoppable," Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "what do you want?"

"Well Bonnie Stoppable," Ron's smile grew, "you know that movie you got for us to watch tonight, I might have picked up Super Monster Mutant Exploding Freaks Twelve today and it would be so cool to watch it."

"Let me guess," Bonnie grinned, "that's also why you're making such a nice dinner."

"It's a distinct possibility," Ron's smile took on a roguish nature, "is the flattery working?"

"Maybe," Bonnie leaned up and pecked him on the cheek, "but perhaps not in the way you meant it to."

"I'm fine with that too," Ron took the saucepan off the heat, "the Ronster has still got it going on after all these years."

"I should know," Bonnie sauntered over to grab the plates, "I think it's healthy regular doses of Ronshine that have let me keep my girlish looks this long."

"You haven't just kept them," Ron grinned, "you look even better then you did when we got married."

"If you'd rather just skip the movie once Sam heads out just say so," Bonnie smirked, "but we still need to eat at some point and you've already made this great dinner."

"You're right," Ron sighed, "but Sam's going out and the twins are going to be buried in their room, we haven't had an opportunity this good in months."

"We're not as young as we used to be Ron," Bonnie filled the kids cups with milk, "even if we have a whole night or we get really lucky and have a whole day to ourselves we can't spend it all in bed anymore."

"All the more reason to make use of this great chance while we still can," Ron pointed out, "before you know it we'll be old and all we'll be able to manage is a night on the sofa watching movies. Not that a night with you cuddling together is a bad thing."

"Come on," Bonnie chided, "we're barely forty, we're not as young as we used to be but we're not close to old either."

Ron let out a soft sigh as he dished up the plates, "Forty already, wasn't it just last Tuesday Sam was in diapers?"

"Last Sunday," Bonnie laughed, "but kids do grow up fast. Now is that everything?"

"Yeah," Ron replied, "Kids, dinner!"

Over the next minute there was a cacophony of feet that would better be described as a miniature stampede as the three Stoppable children joined their parents at the dinner table.

"I can only eat something light," Sam slid into her seat, "I'm heading to Bueno Nacho in a little bit."

"That's what the salad is for," Bonnie gestured, "you do this almost every week. You didn't really think your dad would forget that?"

"Well no," Sam grinned, "but I wouldn't put it past dad to try to feed me enough that I'd be too full to go anywhere."

"That reminds me," Ron held up his fork, "remind Ron that if he doesn't have you back on time I'm using my Mystical Monkey Power to banish him into a dimension of unimaginable pain and suffering."

"No banishing Sam's friends to dimensions of unimaginable pain and suffering," Bonnie said like Ron making that threat was an everyday occurrence. Which though it wasn't an everyday occurrence it was certainly regular enough for Bonnie to make such an offhanded remark about it.

"Speaking of Mystical Monkey Power," Sam spoke around her salad, "when are you going to do that thing to find out if I have it?"

"At some point," Ron said idly, "Sensei said it only might be hereditary. So no guarantees any of you have it, especially since your mom doesn't… um didn't have it."

"Duh," Jim said, "mom never went on any missions with you."

"How would she get Mystical Monkey Power?" Tim finished the thought.

"There was that one time I was stuck to Kim," Bonnie said, "but she didn't have it either."

"What are you so desperate to have Mystical Monkey Power for anyways?" Ron glanced at his daughter.

"Do you have any idea how far I could kick a soccer ball with it?" Sam said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "plus I'm sure there are things in ballet I can use it for."

"She does have a good point with that ballet thing," Bonnie smiled, "but remember Sam, there are no guarantees you'll have Mystical Monkey Power since only your father has it."

"I know," Sam groaned, "I guess as long as the Tweebs don't have it I could live without it. But it would be so cool to have it, I'll bet I could make the varsity team as a junior, it's almost always all seniors on varsity soccer."

"After school gets out for the summer then," Ron sighed, "if it turns out you do you can spend the summer in Japan at Yamanouchi learning to use it."

"And miss Nana Possible's birthday?" Sam said incredulously, "Mystical Monkey Power or no she'd kill you if you made her great-granddaughter miss her hundred and third birthday."

"You'd go after that of course," Bonnie corrected her, "your dad won't make that kind of mistake as long as I'm around to do anything about it."

"You make that sound like a bad thing," Ron said.

"Only if you want it to be," Bonnie lightly hit him on the arm.

"Beautiful wife, job I love, great kids… I'll muddle through somehow." Ron chuckled.

Bonnie responded by leaning over and quickly kissing him.

"Ew! Cooties!" The twins shouted in unison, "We have to evacuate the area!"

"Alright boys," Bonnie laughed, "finish your vegetables and you can go back to your room."

Jim and Tim grimaced but inhaled their vegetables and were already dashing up the stairs as Ron shouted after them, "no launching your sister's shoe closet into orbit!"

Dinner kept going for a few more minutes until Sam looked down at her watch and announced it was time for her to head off to Bueno Nacho.

"Bye mom, bye dad," she hurriedly said as she ran out the door.

"Remember," Ron shouted out the door, "dimension of unimaginable pain and suffering if he gets you back late!"

"Ron," Bonnie sighed, "you can't go threatening every boy Sam meets with banishment, and this is Ron, her best friend. Plus she's not so little you can sit her on your lap, like it or not our little girl is growing up."

"Well I'm definitely not liking it," Ron sulked, "it has to have been last Tuesday Sam was still in diapers."

"I'm afraid not," Bonnie said softly, "she's fifteen, in high school, and growing up."

"I want her to be four again," Ron whined.

"Me too," Bonnie scooted in and wrapped her arms around Ron, "but I could do without all the mood swings and throwing up that came with being pregnant. And you do remember trying to explain to her about Kim don't you?"

Ron did indeed remember that, explaining to Sam that Bonnie wasn't her birth mother had been quite problematic, but not for the reason most of those cases are. Having known no other mom but Bonnie and still not quite grasping the concept of death at age four Sam had taken several such talks to grasp the idea that though Bonnie had raised her for what amounted to her whole life she hadn't been the one to carry her like she was carrying her unborn twin brothers at the time. Eventually though Sam had grown to understand what her parents were telling her but having known Bonnie as 'mom' for as long as she could remember very little changed in Sam's opinion of her parents.

Back in their kitchen Ron wrapped his arms around Bonnie, "Good point."

"Look on the bright side," Bonnie said into his ear, "for two people who are each others second chance we've done pretty good."

"That we have," Ron stood up and scooped Bonnie up into his arms as he went, "now I'm fairly sure Jim and Tim have soundproofed their door for the night and I want a second chance picking up where we were before dinner."

Bonnie responded by laughing and pulling his lips down to hers. And as he carried her up the stairs both Ron and Bonnie Stoppable ran thoughts through their heads about how a seemingly random event turned out to be their second chance.

**-The End-**

AN: Over already? Sheesh I blink and apparently miss where I wrote a good sized story. No evil tricks or cliffhangers in this one, just that nice happy ending I promised you all. Now would the mob outside my door please go away? Anyways, there are several things I left unanswered intentionally, not because I plan a sequel since I have no such plans and already have enough stories planned in any case. But just that I'd like you the readers to fill in those blanks with your own imagination. Now I'm hard at work on SuperRonII which will be short at five chapters but should wrap that up nicely. So in closing it's been a fun ride with this story but all good things must come to an end. I hope you enjoyed this story and that I can somehow convince you to be here same time same place next Friday for my next writing venture.


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